


Broken

by Soyna



Series: Pack Mates [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Clarus/Cor, Fluff, M/M, Monica/Cor, Multi, OT4, Other, Polyamory, Side Ships, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-27 15:13:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 83,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13883520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soyna/pseuds/Soyna
Summary: Prompto had been hiding that he was a male omega from his only friends.  He got gravely ill and his secret comes to light.  He doesn't know what the world holds for him now and if his friends will still have him after he tells them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I am doing but I am going to delve into my own version of the ABO universe ... I’m not sure you’ll all like my take on this dynamic but I’m still going to go with it.
> 
> Because why not.
> 
> Rating will change as the story progresses.

Prompto chewed his lip as he tapped the message to Noctis.  

 **:Prompto (6:05 PM):**  Can’t make it.  Parents.  ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

It was a lie, but he couldn’t tell Noctis the truth.  He was not expecting a quick response, but the phone chirped back at him.

 **:Noct (6:09 PM):** ಥ_ಥ  i just finished downloading the DLC!!!!!!!

His stomach twisted at the text and he swallowed painfully.  He hated lying to Noctis, but he didn’t want to tell him why he really couldn’t go to his place tonight.  It was embarrassing and stupid and Noctis, or anyone else, didn’t have to deal with the fact that he was a broken moron.

 **:Prompto (6:10 PM):**  Sorrrrrrrryyyyyyyy  (´･_･`)

He rubbed his forehead and hoped that Noctis wouldn’t ask any questions or make him feel any guiltier about bailing on him.

 **:Noct (6:10 PM):**  I’ll hold off until Tue.  We can play it then.

Prompto smiled softly at the message.  

 **:Prompto (6:11 PM):**  You’re the best, bro.

He hoped that this would all be over by Tuesday.  It was Friday night, so he had the weekend to recover and should be back to normal by then.  His weekend was going to be horrible if how anxious he was feeling all day was any indication.  Well, more anxious than usual.  He opened a hidden app on his phone that he should have been paying more attention too and sighed dramatically.

The calendar app asked a simple question.  ‘Did you forget to enter your heat?’

He tapped the button and entered the start of his heat as his first day.  He was thankful that his first day was always mild.  He was a little nervous and jumpy but in a couple hours, he would crumble into a stereotypical omega like on all those stupid romantic comedies where the omega swoons and begs the nearest alpha to fuck them through their mattress and be in love forever after.

It was so lame.  He hated what he turned into when his hormones took control.  

“Stupid,” he whispered to himself as he went into the kitchen where his cup of noodles waited.  There was also a bag of energy and sports drinks on the counter.  He made sure he put them all in the fridge, so they would be cold later.  

And then there was the medicine that was supposed to make it so that his heats were ‘hardly noticeable’.  He fished out the bottle of pills and popped four of them.   The instruction said that you were only supposed to take one but that had failed miserably at controlling anything.  He was certain that increasing the medicine would shorten the heat further, so he can go back to a somewhat normal life.

He was broken anyway, so it couldn’t hurt.

The anxiousness was growing heavier as he finished cleaning the kitchen and grabbed another drink before he retreated to his room.  

His phone was flashing indicating that there was another text from Noctis.   He thought about answering him, but he didn’t trust himself to say something not stupid.  His stomach was fluttering and torn between wanting to throw up or pull out the small hidden box that he had in the back of his closet.

No one knew that he got _it_.  He used gift cards that he got for solstice and, after a lot of research, ordered it online from the thankfully discrete site Naughty Behemoth.   It was a horrible week hoping that his parents would not come home early to find the package.  Luckily it didn’t happen.  When the plain brown package showed up at the door he was to nervous to open it up until his next heat happened.  

The blue silicone dildo that was called ‘[Echo](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fbad-dragon.com%2Fproducts%2Fecho&t=ZmI4NzQ2YmNlNWRiZDA3ODAwNmIyZmMzZjU3N2VjMmY0ZDYyMGViYyxib1NpRHBkNw%3D%3D&b=t%3ASc9I8eW4OHCmcp2s2yAamw&p=http%3A%2F%2Falbedosoyna.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F170782209509%2Fecho-from-bad-dragon-totally-writing-this-into-a&m=1)’ that was recommended on the omega chat boards.  There were two others that ranked higher on, but he wasn’t sure if he could really go for the Austin or the Nocturn.

But he was a broken male omega and he wasn’t sure a dildo was going to help calm the heat.

It did, not as much as he would have liked, but it did help.

The thought of the dildo caused his dick to jump and the horrible feeling of moisture in places that had no business being wet.  

So, he prepared for the night by undressing, put his clothes in the hamper, placing a sports drink on the side of the bed, and pulling out a bottle of lube.

 

* * *

 

Noctis was glaring at his phone and not in a way that he normally did when he was playing a game.

Ignis watched the prince as he prepared dinner with one less person than originally planned.  Prompto had to cancel joining them for the evening.  Noctis had been so excited to play the newest download and had went to get the gaming system ready as soon as he got through the door.

Noctis had been visibly upset when Prompto bailed but sighed with understanding.  “He doesn’t get to see his parents all that often.”  He had been slouched on the couch ever since.

“Something the matter, Highness?” Ignis asked, startling Noctis causing him to look abruptly up from his phone.

“Prompto didn’t return my last text,” Noctis grumbled and threw his phone on the coffee table and himself across the couch.

“He’s most likely busy with his parents.  He’ll return the text once he has a moment, I’m sure,” Ignis stated.  Ignis had done some research on Prompto’s parents and he found them … lacking.  They were not very attentive for a couple that adopted a child into their life.

It was a shame that such a happy person had so much sadness beneath the surface.

“Yeah, yeah,” Noctis grumbled as he flicked on the television.  “Don’t try to sneak carrots in the food.  Prompto isn’t here, so there is no excuse for vegetables.”

Ignis rolled his eyes at the last comment but still placed the offending item in the food.  He would make sure there were enough leftovers for when Prompto did come over. 

* * *

Prompto wasn’t at school on Monday or Tuesday and Noctis was miserable for it.  Ignis watched as the prince slunk out of the school with his shoulders drooping and dragging his bag.  The misery level was even higher due to his father summoning him to the Citadel for the night when he had plans with Prompto.

Not that he disliked spending time with his father, but the fact that his best friend hadn’t talked to him in a few days was weighing on him.

As they got out of the car at the citadel, Noctis asked him, “Can you check on Prom for me, Specs.  He hasn’t answered my texts.  Promise him that I’ll make it up to him on Saturday.”  

He had nodded as Gladio waited for him at the entrance.  “Of course, Highness.  Do call if you require a ride back.”

“Probably gonna stay here.  Dad gets all nostalgic and stuff at these dinners and I’ll be too tired to go back.”  Ignis nodded as Noctis dragged himself up the stairs with a small wave.

It was very unusual for Prompto to not text Noctis, so he was slightly worried about the other man.  He made one stop to get Prompto some food at one of the shops that he knew they frequented often.   He knew that the young man was prone to missing dinners especially if his parents did not stock the fridge.

He also knew that happened often.

Parking in front of Prompto’s small house and gathering the bags, he hoped that everything was alright.

He knew that it would almost seem obtrusive, even if his parents were at home, but he was going to make sure that Noctis best friend was not lacking anything.

He rang the bell and waited.  He waited five minutes before he rang it again and snuck a peak in the window.  He could see something moving in there and a small voice of someone saying that they were coming.

When the door opened, he was shocked to see Prompto looking horrid.  His hair was flat and greasy, the clothes looked damp from sweat, his cheeks were bright red, as if he had a fever, and his normally bright eyes were dim.  

The worst part of it all was his smell.  

It hit Ignis like a pressure wave.  It was acidic and reminded him of sour lemons and it as alarming.

“Prompto?”  Ignis asked as he stood in the door and waited for him to respond.

“Didn’t order ‘thing,” Prompto slurred as he leaned against the door frame.  He was drooping as he obviously didn’t recognize who he was.

“I came to see if you were alright.  Noctis is worried about you,” Ignis said as he put the bags inside the door.  “You do not look well.”  Prompto hummed and still looked through him.  

He wanted to ask where his parents were and why they weren’t taking care of him when he was in such a state.  Ignis wasn’t sure what was wrong with him but he had a fever for certain and to give off such an odour was very odd for a beta.

“Got noodles,” Prompto slurred and tried to close the door on him.  Ignis decided it was time to act.  He slammed his hand on the door, unintentionally hard enough to cause it to bang.  Prompto whimpered and stepped back.

It was so unlike him.

“I have something better.”  Ignis said and tried so hard to be non-threatening.  He didn’t want to startle Prompto.  “Why don’t you go sit at the table and I get it ready for you.”

Prompto shook his head and that seemed to set him off balance.  Ignis quickly grabbed the man and held him up.  Prompto’s eyes slid shut, and he would have collapsed onto the floor if he had not been there.  

The acidic smell got stronger.

This was not normal. 

Pressing his lips tightly together, Ignis made a decision.  After sitting Prompto safety onto the couch and watching the normally bouncy young man curl up into a ball, he fished out his phone and to call the royal doctor.  She was a kindly woman that looked after the royal family and himself all the time.   He was glad that when he told her what little he knew about what was going on with Prompto that she said that she would be there as soon as she could.  She gave him a small list of things that he could do to make Prompto comfortable until she got there.

“Need pills,” Prompto grumbled as he seemed to curl up tighter into a ball.

“We will wait for the doctor to get here,” Ignis said.  “I’ll get you some water, okay?”

Prompto grunted and Ignis took that as a yes.  Ignis went about what he did best.  Taking care of the needs of others.  He put the bags in the fridge -- which was empty except for a bottle of a red sports drink and some pickles.  He found the glasses in one of the cupboards and saw a sink full of spoons and forks and the garbage full of premade food packages.  He couldn’t help but ‘tsk’ loudly at the sight of that.

He ignored it for now.

He did find three bottles of medication that were sitting empty by an empty bottle of the energy drink.   

He frowned as he looked at the labels and wondered how many of them he took.  That could explain his condition, for certain, but this was not an area that he was an expert at and hoped that the doctor would arrive soon.   He didn’t want to jump to conclusions about the nature of his medical condition.

He came back into the living room and saw that Prompto had sat up.  He looked dazed and confused.

“Here you go.”

Prompto didn’t look like he had the strength to raise his hands.  Ignis sat beside him and brought the cup to his lips and was grateful that he was able to take a sip.   He was also grateful that the acidic scent that the ill man was giving off had lessened.  

“Better?”  Ignis asked and took off his gloves to feel if he had a fever.  Prompto flinched at his touch and his eyes focused on him.

“Ignis?”  Prompto blinked rapidly at him and suddenly seemed horrified that he was there.  “Ohmysix,” the words rushed out and the acidic smell increased and almost smelled as if it was burning to get out of his skin.  

“Easy, Prompto,” Ignis said and tried to be as calming as possible.  He blinked slowly and tilted his head to the side.  He knew that even when he used all his calming abilities, he could still be threatening.  He was larger than most beta’s and even alphas and it threw people off.  Prompto was clearly confused and scared.  He was very ill and overly medicated.  He hoped that his own calming scent would help but Prompto seemed to be unaffected.  “You’re sick.  Are your guardians around?”

Prompto was starting to hyperventilate as he frantically shook his head and tried to form words but all that came out was a whine and whimper.

“I called a doctor.”

Ignis did not think it was possible for him to smell even more horrible.  He kept his place at his side and put his hands on his, hoping that the contact would help him calm down.

“You need to see a doctor.  You’re very ill,” he repeated.  

“I j-just need my pills,” Prompto whimpered and looked around the room.  “They’ll stop this.”

“We will wait for the doctor to get here, okay.”  He was sure that the doctor would.  “How much of the medicine were you taking?”

The smell coming off the smaller man was overpowering.  Everything he said or did seemed to spike his anxiety levels and make it worse.  “Have some more water.”  It was probably best if he didn’t ask any more questions.

Prompto nodded and accepted as Ignis held the cup for him.  

Ignis made sure that he drank the full glass of water and was grateful that he was finally calming down by the time there was a knock at the door.   Prompto had been leaning back on the couch, with his eyes closed and practicing deep breathing exercises that Ignis recognized as teaching him to get through the anxiety of his exams.  Prompto jumped, causing him to start shaking and the smell to rise to the previous sickening levels.  

Ignis got up and went to answer the door and was very grateful to see the doctor on the other side.  She carried a small bag and a warm smile.  He could see her nose twitch as she entered the room and stood by the couch.  She was an omega as well, so he hoped that she would be able to reach him through using her baser instincts that he had failed at.

“Your name is Prompto, right?”  She asked.  Prompto nodded.  “I’m Doctor Marsha.  You can call me Mar.”  Prompto licked his chapped lips and nodded again.  

“Can you look at me, Prompto?”  She asked in a sweet voice.  She gave off a scent that smelled like pink roses.  It was clashing with that of Prompto’s but still more than welcome.  Prompto was able to look at her but it didn’t last long as he whimpered and looked away from her.

She hummed and took a step closer.  “Ignis, were you able to find anything else that about what happened to him?”

“He stated that he had medication that would stop this. I saw the bottles in the kitchen.  There are three empty bottles of Lunitinte.”  Ignis stated.  The reaction of the doctor told him what he suspected.

Mar’s eyebrows went into her hair as she looked back at Prompto who was curling in on himself again.

She turned to him and he saw her lips were tightly pressed together.  “This is more than just being heat sick, Ignis.  We need to get him to the Infirmary.  I can take proper care of him there.”

Heat sick.  An illness that no beta should be able to get… but Prompto was very ill.  And he seemed to be trying to treat it.

Ignis nodded and took the information in stride.  They would deal with the revelation after he was better.  “Shall I call an ambulance?”  He knew he was hiding his worry with actions as he picked up his phone and was prepared to dial emergency services.

“No.  We will take him in my car.  I’ll drive, and you’ll have to hold him.  He’s not going to be very cooperative.  An ambulance will set him off even higher and there will be a public record.  I do understand that he is one of the Prince friends and if this were to get out, I’m sure the tabloids would have a field day.”

Ignis nodded.

Prompto groaned on the couch and was shaking again.  The horrible smell he was giving off increased again.  “Of course.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis cleans up Prompto's home. Ignis takes Prompto back to Nocts place to stay after a lengthy talk with the doctor.
> 
> And Noct is a dork.

Ignis was glad to see that Prompto’s smell was back down to not being noticeable.  He was clean, scrubbed, and resting peacefully in a clean bed, with an IV in his arm and the blanket tucked under his chin.

What the doctor had told him he was greatly concerned with what was happening to Prompto.  If he had not dropped by, the doctor was certain that Prompto would have done irreparable damage to his heart and possibly had died.

He was dehydrated, exhausted, and heat sick on top of the accidental overdose.  The doctor was running more tests as she was concerned over the preliminary blood work.  The doctor also confirmed that Prompto was indeed an omega and not a beta.

“Do you know where his parents are?”  Mar had asked.  Ignis didn’t have time to answer as he tried to formulate something that wasn’t negative.  Mar let out a sigh.  “Well, I had to sedate him, so he will be out of it for at least the rest of the night.  He needs to sleep to recover.  He could do some serious damage to his liver and heart with that medication.  We will find out.”

Ignis nodded at the doctor’s concerns.  “Thank you.  I have a few things to attend to but do call me if his conditions change.  I should be back in a couple of hours.”  Mar walked out of the room with Ignis.

He had already sent as message to Noctis saying that Prompto was ill with the flue and he was taken care of him.  Ignis hated lying to Noctis but he felt it necessary to add that Prompto’s phone broken after accidently spilling water on it.  It calmed down the Prince and Gladio.  He didn’t want to tell them the truth about why he was sick without Prompto’s consent.

Ignis took a cab back to Prompto’s house and let himself in.  The house was still empty and smelled awful.  He quickly took it upon himself to clean things up.  He opened the windows that were not painted shut to air the small house.  He cleaned up the kitchen, scrubbed it clean and threw out the garbage.

There were numbers on the fridge and he saw that Prompto’s guardians were posted there.  He put the numbers in in his phone and he would call them in the morning.  He had no idea what he was going to say at them.  The thought of them allowing Prompto to suffer alone through an obviously bad heat to the point where he nearly overdosed on medicine that he used to try to control it all on his own.

Next, he went into Prompto’s bedroom and had to cover his nose.  The sour acid smell was strong in the room and it was in a complete disarray.  It made his heart hurt at the evidence of how much Prompto must have suffered in the last couple of days.  The sheets were horrible shape.  They were twisted and half on the floor.  There were stains and some of them were blood.

He opened the window and started to gather up the sheets to wash them.  Prompto deserved to come home to at least a clean room.  He didn’t trust the so-called parental figures to make sure that he had a safe place to go back too.

Scooping up the sheets, pillows, and the towels that were scattered about he went to find the laundry room.

He was a bit startled when a strangely shaped lump thumped to the floor as he stuffed the sheets into the small washer.  He took a few moments to realize what he was.  It made him feel like he was intruding on a very private moment of the blond man’s life.

There was nothing he could do about it now.

He did wish he had some gloves.

It took him two hours to clean and air out the house to the point that it was liveable.  He even cleaned the … toy and stored it securely in a box that it seemed to be meant for.

He allowed himself a moment as he sat on the couch to breath.  There was a text from Gladio saying that Noctis was in his rooms at the citadel.  Noctis was asking how Prompto was.  He responded as vaguely as he could because he really didn’t know the answer.

It was nearly midnight and he was started to feel the stress of the day.  The washer let it be known that it was finished, so he went about putting the wet laundry into the dryer before he went back to the infirmary.  He closed the house and left a note in case Prompto’s parents cared.

He kept it professional and included his phone number in case they wanted to get a hold of him sooner than his planned phone call in the morning.

Needing a boost to make it through the rest of the night, he went through a drive-thru and got himself a double espresso.  When he got back to the infirmary he was glad to see that Prompto was still sleeping and had more colour to his skin.

He took the chair beside the hospital bed, and sent a text to Gladio to ensure that Gladio would make sure that Noctis made it to school the next day.  He knew that he was going to receive texts of complaint as soon as Gladio took his blanket and tossed him out of bed, but he had to make sure that Prompto was not going to be alone when he woke.

It didn’t take him long, despite the extra coffee, for sleep to take him as he watched the prince best friend sleep.

Morning was alarming.  Ignis woke with a sore neck, tingles in his legs from sitting oddly and utter confusion.  It took only a moment to remember what happened the night before.  Prompto was still thankfully sleeping.

It was texts from his ward that had woke him.

 **:Noctis (6:59 am):** Iggggggy, why are you torturing me?

 **:Noctis (7:00 am):** I’m going to throw Gladio in the dungeon!!!!!!!!   ｏ( ><)o

 **:Ignis (7:02 am):** Gladio would enjoy the vacation.

 **:Noctis (7:10 am):**   I hate him sooooooo hard right now.  _(:/ 」∠)_

Ignis rubbed his neck and stretched himself out.  The crack his back made was very satisfying.   Unfortunately, the sound woke Prompto.

Sitting bolt up right and gasping in shock as he realized that he had an IV stuck in his arm and most certainly not back home.  He made a strange garbled sound as he spotted him and lost all the colour that he had gained from his rest.

“How are you feeling, Prompto?” he asked and tried to use the most calming voice possible.  The blond had one hand on his chest and he looked like he was on the verge of hyperventilating.  “Easy, Prompto.  You’re safe.”

Wide blue eyes darted around the room as he trying to figure out what had happened to him.  Ignis sat back down in the chair he slept in, leaned forward and placed a hand on his leg.  “I found you very ill.  You were suffering from two conditions that could have seriously damaged your heart and liver.  The doctors will be required to make sure that damage was not done.”  Ignis could almost see the gears turning in the other man’s head.

“My heart?”  His hand was clutching at his chest.

“Between the medication and the,” Ignis didn’t want to say it but he couldn’t think of a softer way to handle the situation, “heat, you were deathly ill.”

Prompto flinched and slouched into the sheets as if he was trying to become as small as he possible could.  “Oh.” Was all that he seemed to be able to say and he was no longer able to look at him.

“Prompto?”

Prompto’s hand fiddled with the sheets and Ignis could see the tears in his eyes.  He wanted to hug him but from the previous nights reaction, he was certain that it would only make him nervous.

“Can you look at me?”  Ignis asked.

Prompto shook his head.  “No.”  His voice was watery.

“I can’t understand how you feel but I need you to know that you can talk with myself if you feel like it.  If that doesn’t appeal to you, there are others that are more professional that you can talk to.”  Ignis wanted to make sure that he was okay.

“Oh.  Mee.  Gee!”  He looked right at him and looked horrified.  “Did you tell Noctis that I’m a …” he choked on the last word and put his fist in the mouth to try to swallow the sob.

Ignis shook his head.  “Both Gladio and Noctis think you have the flu and that I’m taking care of you.  I didn’t want to tell them something you obviously wanted a secret.  But no secret is worth your health.”

“But,” Prompto sobbed and rubbed furiously at his eyes, “I’m broken.”

Ignis did not stop himself as the grief that Prompto was showing and giving off was palatable.  He threw his arms around him and held him.  He was not giving off a scent which was a concern that he would discuss with the doctor later.  Yesterday, he smelled of rot, and now, he smelled like nothing at all which he had always assumed that he was a beta.

Prompto tried to push him away initially, but it only took him a few moments to collapse into him with deep gasping sobs.  Ignis rubbed his back and carded his fingers through his blond hair until Prompto the sobs turned to sniffles.  The advisor slowly pulled away and went to sitting in the chair beside the bed, after handing Prompto tissues. 

“Sorry,” Prompto whispered as he blew his nose loudly.

“No need to be sorry,” Ignis easily dismissed and was about to say more when the door opened. 

Doctor Mar entered the room with a folder in her hand.  “Good morning, gentlemen.”  She smiled brightly at them both and walked to the end of the bed.  “You look much better this morning, Mr. Argentum.  How are you feeling?”

Prompto ducked his head.  “Better, I guess.”  His cheeks became coloured in pink as he avoided looking at the doctor.    

Ignis stood and cleared his throat.  “Prompto, would you like me to leave to talk to the doctor?”

The panicked look on his face took him by surprise.   “No!”  Prompto shouted.  “I mean,” he clutched at his blanket and stared at his lap.  “I…  I know that I don’t have a clear head.”  He looked up at him and there was pleading clear on his face.  “Please, stay.”

Ignis held out another tissue for Prompto who used it to dab at his eyes.  “Of course.”  He sat back down in the chair and made sure the tissues were handy as the doctor started to ask questions.

Prompto spoke in a low voice and there were quite a few times that he had to pass Prompto a tissue and he was alarmed by a lot of what was said.

He also was beginning to understand how much pain that Prompto was hiding under his happy façade.

He learned that Prompto presented as an omega late.  He was nearly seventeen when had his first heat and it was bad.  He mentioned how his mom got him the pills and it seemed to help his second heat so he kept on taking it.  He confessed that he knew that he was taking more than the bottle said as well as some other supplements that were supposed to supress everything.    He did admit that he was taking various types of suppressants and some from dubious sources.

And then there was a question on his scent.  “I always smelled bad.”  Ignis had to hand him a few more tissues as he talked about it.  Prompto didn’t know what he smelled liked and confessed that he didn’t notice the scent of others. 

“When did you figure out that you scent was unpleasant?” 

Prompto went through more tissues as he said that he knew he smelled bad because his mom would bleach absolutely everything after he had his heat and … his father told him to stay in his room.  Considering how upset it made him, Doctor Mar moved the topic to easier topics for Prompto to talk about.

After about two hours Doctor Mar got all the information she needed and seemed satisfied to let Prompto rest, just in time for the food cart to arrive.

“Eat up! You’ll need your strength.  We’ll require some more tests and an ultrasound of your heart, but you should be able to go home after lunch,” Mar said and that cheered up Prompto.  “I will be writing you some orders and I’ll be expecting you to come back to talk with me if there are any other issues.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Prompto said as he stirred the apple flavoured porridge.

Ignis followed the doctor out of the room and wanted to ask a million questions.  He had a lot of concerns about Prompto had and how emotionally unstable he seemed to be now.

“Now, he is his own man, Ignis, but we will need to guide him to choices that are better than from strangers he talked to on message boards. I will be doing blood work to see why he would present so late in life and if there are any other deficiencies.  He has a lot of issues to work through and I do hope that you will be able to help him in the right direction.”

“Of course,” Ignis said.  He would gladly help the young man find his way.  As annoying as he found him at times, he was still quite fond of Prompto.  He was a ball of sunshine and he had so many issues that burned behind that happy exterior.  “Is there anything else I should know.  His scent last night was… awful.”

“He was in severe distress and I don’t think there was a time that he wasn’t.  He always described his scent as such.  I can only speculate that it has to do with all the different types of medication and supplements that he was taken.  I’ll find out for certain the cause.”

Ignis nodded.  “Would talking to another male omega help him?  He seems does seem very upset over that fact and saying that he is broken.”

“That is a wonderful idea, Ignis,” she beamed.  “I do believe that I should set up some sessions with Dr. Audientis.  He would be the best to talk to him with.  Now, I will ask you to watch him for the next couple of days.  I don’t think he should be alone.”

Ignis nodded and tapped his lip with his gloved finger.  “I will make appropriate arrangements so that he can relax and not worry about anything until Monday.  Would that suffice?”

She nodded.  “Yes.  Thank you, Ignis.  Now, I need to arrange the other tests before I discharge him.”

He already had a plan for how to ensure that Prompto was well taken care of for the next couple of days and he knew that both Gladio and Noctis would approve.  He hoped that Prompto would not object.

Walking back into the room he saw that Prompto had finished the food and finishing up the glass of water.  “Did you get enough to eat?”

Prompto nodded, “I’m still a bit thirsty.”  Ignis quickly got him water and sat in the chair beside him again.

“You don’t need to stay,” Prompto said in a quiet voice as he finished half the glass.

“It’s not an issue,” Ignis said.  “Actually, I do wish to talk about the next few days.  I’m not comfortable with you going home alone after this event.  I was hoping that you would agree to spending the rest of the time at Noctis apartment.  I’m not comfortable with you being alone.”

Prompto’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.  “Oh, no.  I can’t do that.   I can’t …”

“Prompto,” Ignis said firmly.  “You scared me last night.  You were not yourself and I would never forgive myself if I returned you home and you became ill again.  Noctis has been horrible without you around and this would cheer him up.  We will all feel better if we know that you are rested enough.”

Prompto was not good at hiding his emotions.  The worry was written on his face that he was being a burden.  “You’ve stayed over at Noct’s before nor have you ever had issues with eating the food I prepare.  You two can play video games and be utter dorks together until school on Monday.”  Ignis could see the gears turning in his head as he spoke. 

“But … doesn’t me being … you know … change things?”

“Why would it?”

“Because…”  Prompto twisted his hands in the blankets and his eyes avoided looking up, “I’m an omega and it would look bad on Noct to have an omega friend.”

“Being an omega does not make you any less of who you are.”  Ignis stated sharply.  Prompto cringed at his harsh tone and he instantly regretted it.  “Prompto.  Please.”  He let his face and tone soften.  “I would be more comfortable knowing that you are safe and, in a place where you can rest and eat with no worries.”

Prompto look at him with watery eyes and Ignis had to resist the urge to hug him again.  “Okay.”

Ignis sighed with relief.

The room changed as the door opened and a young man with an ultrasound machine entered the room.  Ignis excused himself and started to make the arrangements. 

* * *

Noctis threw his bag across the room and nearly ran to the spare room. 

“Noct!  He’s probably sleeping!”  Ignis snapped but it was too late and Noctis didn’t care.  Noctis had been worrying about Prompto since Ignis told him that he had the flu and had been scared when he found out that Prompto had been taken to the infirmary.  Knowing that his friend had been home alone and sick to the point where he was dehydrated enough and needed to go to the hospital was worrisome. 

He felt guilty about not checking on him sooner.

Prompto thankfully was not asleep when he walked into the bedroom.  He did look sleepy and pale, but he didn’t look as bad as he thought he was going to look.  “How are you feeling?” he asked as he circled around the bed. 

The blond shrugged.  “Tired.  I got some sleep though and Iggy made sure I had some majorly awesome chicken noodle soup before I had a nap.”

Noctis put his hand on his friend’s forehead.  He felt cold.  “Do you need more blankets?  Heating pad?  Tea?  Coffee?”

Prompto laughed and shook his head.  “Not right now.  Why don’t we watch a movie or something?”  He shuffled under the blankets.  Noctis could see a shake in his normally steady hands. 

“Are you sure?”  Noctis said.

Noctis went out of his way to help Prompto to the couch and wrap him in blankets.  Ignis had said that he was better but he didn’t look or feel right yet, so he was going to ensure that his friend was pampered.

“I’m a horrible friend,” Noctis blurted as he adjusted a pillow.  “I should have checked on you sooner, but I thought you were with your parents and all.”  Noctis leaned against him as he grabbed the remote to search through the movie list.  “Where are your parents?”

Prompto shrugged.  “Conference or something.”  He seemed to be melting into the blankets.  “Oh, that one.  The new Godzilla thing.”

Noctis didn’t press any further as he turned on the movie.

It only took Prompto about ten minutes to fall asleep and that was when he decided to question Ignis.  His advisor was on his third can of Ebony as he dozed in front of the lap top sitting on the kitchen table.

“Specs?”

Ignis startled and looked at him.  “Oh.  Yes, highness.  I still have some soup if you are hungry.  I haven’t had time to make of anything else for dinner.”

“I’m fine but what really happened to Prompto,” Noctis asked.  “His original text said that he was spending time with his parents, but he just said that they were at a conference or something.”

Ignis pushed his glasses on his face and let out a sigh.  “Noct.”  The pause was painful as it looked as if he was searching for words. 

“What happened to him?” Noctis asked and set his jaw. 

“It is not my place to say,” Ignis voice was low as he slumped in the chair. 

“Have you talked to his parents?”  Noctis asked. 

Ignis let out another sigh and nodded.  “Yes.  Yes, we have.”

“And!”  Noctis was getting frustrated at the lack of response from his advisor. 

“They will still be busy until Monday when they will be returning.  They are trusting his care to us.”  Ignis tone did not hide the anger that he was obvious feeling.  Noctis could feel his own anger as well as who would abandon their kid like that. 

“Well, I forbid him to go back if they are not worried about him.  Leaving him on his own!”  Noctis snapped.

Ignis nodded his head.  “That is not our choice to make.  Prompto can make his own …”

“Well, I’m going to convince him to stay.  I have room and I will not have him be sick on his own again.”  Noctis crossed his arm as he looked at the figure sleeping on the couch.  “Iggy, why can’t you tell me what happened to him?”

Ignis took a drink from his can of Ebony and seemed disappointed that it was empty.  “It is not my place to say.”

Noctis sniffed and could smell Ignis scent changing.  It was tinged with caramel.  Ignis normally smelled like a coffee shop or a used book store.  The caramel scent was thick in it today and it only became an issue when Ignis didn’t get enough sleep, which was obviously part of it, or he was distressed. 

“Iggy.  You smell like caramel.  Is it that bad?”

His advisor shook his head and sighed heavily.  “I’m very worried about him and do please give him time to tell you on his own.  He may need a few days, but he will tell you.”

Looking back at his best friend on the couch he let out a sigh and nodded.  “Okay.  But you’re going to join us for the rest of this horrible movie.  You’re not doing any good over here anyway.”

It looked like that Ignis was going to argue with him about it but he sighed and closed his lap top.  “I do believe that is a good idea.”

They moved on the couch and Noctis cocooned himself in the blanket with Prompto and Ignis slid beside the blond man with his own blanket covering his lap and a new can of Ebony that he opened.   Noctis was glad to see that Ignis didn’t last longer than five minutes.

The movie was awful but Noctis endured it.  When the credits rolled, he woke up Prompto up and announced that it was time for bed.   “You’re coming with me so Iggy can use the spare room.”

“But …”

“Ignis needs to sleep too.  My bed is big enough for us.”  Noctis pulled him off the couch.

“Make sure you brush your teeth.  Both of you,” Ignis yawned before disappearing into the guest room. 

Prompto’s hands were shaking again and he went a few shades paler than he had moments before.  Noctis wrapped his arm around his shoulders and escorted him into the bedroom.  It’s not like he never shared a bed before. 

He really wished he understood what really happened, so he could help.  “Ignis is totally letting me play hooky tomorrow so we can sleep in and then get you a new phone.  There’s a new event in Kings Knight where we can get the buster sword and the magic comb.”

“Really!”  Prompto perked up.  “I can’t wait until they get gun in the game.  I would love to get Cerberus.”

Noctis snorted. “Gun freak.”

Prompto smiled and then yawned as he looked at the bed, which Noctis had not made the day before.   “I can sleep on the couch.  Really.  It’s okay.” 

“Prom.  Don’t argue with me,” Noctis said and he continued to push Prompto towards his bed.  “You need a bed and I got a big one.”

The nervousness was still obvious as his best friend sat him on the edge and smiled ... even if it did look a little forced.  Noctis used the bathroom and washed up and got in his sleep pants.  Prompto had crawled into his bed but was right on the edge.  This was so unlike his normally touchy-feely friend.

It was hard not to ask what really happened to make him so miserable.

He didn’t press though as he got in his usual position.  It was hard not to ask questions as he stared at his friends back until he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a quick writer but I am plugging away at this story when I have the energy and time to write.
> 
> Thank you for reading.
> 
> I reblog shit on tumblr [](http://albedosoyna.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto tells them he is an omega and Gladio contemplates the revelation.

Prompto thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep with Noctis sleeping so close to him.  They had fallen asleep on each other on the couch before and even passed out watching a movie on their phone together.

But it seemed so different now that Ignis knew that he was a broken omega.  A secret that he had been keeping for so long that he hoped that Noctis would forgive him.  Ignis didn’t seem to be upset over the fact that he was an omega and the advisor didn’t seem to have any issue with him sharing the bed with Noctis.

Maybe …  maybe it was because he was so undesirable.

He could hear that Noctis was already asleep.  His breathing was deep and even.

Noctis never had issues with falling asleep and Prompto was grateful.

He stuffed his hand in his mouth so that he wouldn’t make a sound as the tears started to come again. He thought of moving to the couch so that Noctis wouldn’t hear him cry. 

How was he going to tell them?

He knew that he had too.  He nearly killed himself trying to hide this part of himself.   Doctor Mar gave him a list of things that he was going to have to do and to get checked as time when on to make sure that there was no permeant damage. 

She said it was going to get better.

He couldn’t see how.

He couldn’t stop the tears.  He had cried so much today; it was obviously a sign that he was still very broken.  He cried when Ignis held him, he cried when the doctor told him about the male omega councillor he could talk to.  He had cried after he got out of the shower and Ignis had a bowl of homemade chicken soup.  He cried when he was on speaker phone with his mother telling her all that happened and how she wouldn’t be home until Monday.  He cried from relief as he crawled into the comfort of the guest bed in Noctis apartment. 

And now he was going to cry in Noctis bed too.

So very broken.

“Hey.”

He stiffened at the sleepy sound of the prince’s voice.  “You okay?”

Prompto couldn’t answer because he wasn’t okay.  His life was crumbling around him and he wasn’t sure that he would have any of his friends after this.

“Prompto?”  Noctis sounded worried.  Prompto felt the bed shift and suddenly there were arms around him.  He froze as he didn’t deserve to have the warm comforting arms around him and he shouldn’t be allowing the Prince of Lucis, heir to the throne, the Alpha of all alphas, to hug such a broken omega such as himself.

“Noct,” he whispered and tried to tell him to let him go, but a sob took him.

His arms were exactly the place he wanted to be.

“I’m not letting you go.”  It was innocent and sweet.

“I don’t deserve a friend like you,” Prompto whimpered. 

Noctis scoffed.  “Shut up and tell me what your deal is already?  I’m worried about you and Iggy won’t say shit so…”  Noctis sighed.  “But when your ready, yeah?”

Prompto snorted.  Noctis was as bad at his emotions as he was.  His clumsy honesty is what flipped the switch on his decision on telling Noctis. “In the morning,” he whispered and allowed himself to relax.  Ignis had tried to reassure him and told him that things wouldn’t be so bad.  He hoped the advisor was right, but he knew that he couldn’t hide what he was after he nearly killed himself.

“Okay,” Noctis muttered.  “Go to sleep.  ‘Mmm tired.”

Noctis made sleepy acceptance made him smile.  He allowed himself to accept his affection while he could. 

He thought he was going to have a harder time sleeping with Noctis holding onto him but nearly dying and crying all day took a lot of energy.  He fell asleep almost as fast the prince did.

He woke up before Noctis, which is not a surprise.   He had to disentangle himself him so that he could go to the bathroom.

After he washed himself up he looked in the mirror and the sight caused him to cringe.  He hated how every freckle stood out and how red his eyes were rimmed.  He fixed his hair as best as he could.  All his stuff was in the guest room and he didn’t want to wake up Ignis.

Even though, there was a smell of coffee and pancakes coming from the kitchen, so he was certain that he was already up.  He shuffled into the kitchen to see Ignis leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee in his hand and Gladio was on the other side with a large bottle of water.

He was not expecting to see Gladio.

The shield must have heard him because he turned around and gave him a large smile.  “Hey, twerp.  Feeling better?”

“’Hmm okay.” He mumbled as he shuffled towards a spot at the table.  Ignis was already moving around the kitchen.

“You look a little pale,” Gladio said as he looked to Ignis.  “Good call on letting them play hooky for the day.”  He slapped Ignis on the shoulder as he took a swig of the water.  He started to smirk as he swished the remaining contents of the half full bottle.  “Still going to wake up the princess though.”  Gladio headed towards Noctis bedroom.  “One day, he’ll actually charge me with treason.”

Prompto watched Gladio disappeared into the bedroom.  He started to say something to Ignis when he heard Noctis scream and curse. 

“I’m going to have you arrested!”  Noctis yelled from the bedroom.  Gladio was laughing at the Prince’s response.

Prompto was distracted by a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee that Ignis sat in front of him.  “You do look better than yesterday.  Did you sleep well enough?”

He nodded.  He noted that the coffee was the way he liked it; lots of cream.  “Yeah.  Slept okay.  Thanks for helping me.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Ignis said.  “Eat up before those two start rough housing out here.”  Ignis was getting a couple of other plates from the cupboard and put two more cups of coffee ready.

There was a loud banging sound followed by sharp whining and gruff laughter. 

Ignis sighed as he sat at the table with a full cup of black coffee.

“I’m going to tell him … them why I was sick,” Prompto whispered into his half-eaten pancakes.  “It’s like tearing off a bandage.  It can’t be all that bad at the end.”  He hoped.  There was another roar of laughter from the bedroom.  “Get it all out in the open … well, not all out in the open but you know what I mean.”

“Wise choice,” Ignis said as he sipped the coffee

Gladio charged into the room with an empty water bottle and a huge grin on his face.  “Princess will be out shortly.”

“I hate you!”  Noctis yelled from the bedroom. 

“There are better ways to wake him up in the morning.” Ignis said dryly and kicked the shield from under the table.  Gladio was lucky he wasn’t wearing his normally sharp pointed shoes because Prompto was sure that would have left a bruise.  “Ways that don’t involve him threaten to kill, maim, or exile you from the kingdom.”

Gladio rolled his eyes and with a grin, “What?  Can’t flip the mattress, don’t dump water on him, or throw him in the shower?  I get him up quicker than you do.”

“Yes, and I also will have to listen to him complain and contemplate how to make everything you do against the law,” Ignis said with a straight face and narrowed eyes. 

“At least he’s thinking to the future,” Gladio said over a mouth full of pancakes.  Ignis rolled his eyes and Prompto couldn’t help but giggle a bit.  He was glad to see the two men smiling at him and so at ease.

He hoped that after he told them how broken he was Gladio and Noctis would still be able to smile at him.

Noctis came into the kitchen, looking particularly grumpy and one side of his hair wet and a new t-shirt.  “Hate you,” he grumbled at Gladio and dug into his pancakes.

The rest of breakfast was calm despite the many threats of jail, treason, and death that Noctis passed Gladio’s way.  Ignis made sure that he had enough food and fresh coffee the whole time.

“Hey, why does the twerp get fresh coffee and I don’t?” Gladio pouted.

“He hasn’t tried to drown the crown prince this morning with a water bottle,” Ignis said.  “You’re lucky you are even getting food.”

“Yeah, treasoner.”  Noctis grumbled as he stabbed at the last of the pancakes on his plate.

“That isn’t even a word, dude,” Prompto added.  Being around them always made him happy.

“It will be!”  Noctis said and slumped in his chair and took a sip of the tea in his mug.  His blue eyes focused on him and he knew what he was asking with them.

Prompto chewed his lip and grabbed his mug.  “Yeah,” he whispered as he looked at the creamy coffee.  He started to take some deep breaths through his nose to control the anxiety that was squeezing his chest.

“Hey, bud?  Why glum all of a sudden?” Gladio was looking at him with a concerned look on his face.   

Prompto shook his head and let out a deep sigh that he couldn’t stop.  He had made up his mind and this was a good a time as any.

“Am I missing something?”  Gladio asked.

“I have something to tell you guys.  About why I was sick.”  Prompto didn’t look up.   There was no way that he could.  If he looked up at them, he would crumble and start crying again.

Like a weak omega.

Gladio took in a deep breath, Ignis put a comforting hand on his shoulder and Noctis put his elbows on the table and pushed his plate aside. 

“Do you want to move to the living room?”  Ignis asked but he should his head.  He was going to tell them.  Rip the bandage off and get on with whatever horrors his life would turn into.

 

* * *

“Gladiolus!”  He started as he looked up at his father who was frowning at him.  “I asked you a question.”

“Sorry, dad,” he responded and rubbed the back of his head.  “What was that?”

His eyes narrowed and Gladio prepared for a lecture on focus, but the shake of his head told him that he would get it later.  “Can you to pick up Iris today after her class.”

“What class does she have today?  Dance?”  Iris was a busy girl and had a lot on the go.  Clarus gave her everything that she wanted, and she wanted a lot.  She was passionate about everything as well, so it made it hard to say no when she wanted to take gymnastics, dance and piano.  Clarus nodded.  “No problem.”

“What has you distracted?  Is Prompto still sick?”  Clarus was gathering up his jacket as he looked around his desk as if he was trying to decide if he needed to take the folder he had been looking at earlier or not.

“Well, no.  But he’s still resting at Noct’s,” Gladio looked away from his father.  He was never good at lying to his father, but he didn’t want to break Prompto trust that he had in them. 

Clarus nodded, “Do you have enough money to buy dinner for Iris and yourself that _not_ Cup-of-Noodles?”

“Dad,” he whined. 

Clarus snorted, gave his son a slap on the shoulder and wished him farewell for the day.  “Make sure you lock up my office when your done that report.”  Gladio grunted in response as he was left alone with the work that he was supposed to be doing.

Gladio had a lot to think about.  Prompto dropped a lot of information on him this morning and he was still trying to digest it.

He was supposed to be working on a report on the new recruits and who was the most promising from the latest fitness scores, but his thoughts were on Prompto.  Gladio remembered when Prompto was thinking about joining the Crownsguard.  Gladio thought it was a great idea.  Prompto was an excellent marksman that put everyone to shame, had almost as much endurance as he did when it came to running and the odd time that they trained together, he understood how to work as a team.

He remembered Ignis getting and helping him with the paper work but Prompto never submitted it. 

Gladio now understood why. 

Rubbing his eyes and leaning back in his chair and wished he could talk to his father about it.  Prompto was a good kid and didn’t deserve to look like had had been beaten down.  Gladio didn’t know how to comprehend how much pain and the deep shame that the normally up-beat man was hiding.

All because he was an omega.

“What a mess,” he muttered and slammed his laptop shut.  The report could wait.  He wanted to talk to Ignis about this some more because he knew how this could turn bad and he was sure Ignis knew the same consequences of the crown prince cavorting with an omega … and a male omega.

He walked to the training hall and decided to get out the aggression out of his system.  He did his best thinking when he was moving anyway.

He hadn’t said much as Prompto talked.  He had been stunned as Prompto seemed to shrink in the chair and held the coffee mug as if his life depended on holding that cup.  He was preparing himself for talk of cancer or something.

He was not expecting Prompto to say that he had been really heat sick.

“Beta’s don’t get heat sick,” Noctis blurted.

“Yeah.  They don’t,” Prompto whispered.  “I’m not a beta.”  His blue eyes got all watery and his hand shook as he said the next word.  “I’m an omega.”  The words were barely a whisper, but he heard them clearly.

Ignis was right behind him with his hands on his shaking shoulders.

“Since when?”  Noctis had yelled.

“Noctis!”  Ignis snapped and Noctis had the smarts to look ashamed for yelling.  “Let Prompto speak.  This is hard for him.”

“I didn’t mean to …  I mean,” Prompto took a shaking breath in, “I’m broken so it was easier not to be … that.”

Gladio noted that Prompto had a hard time saying that he was an omega. 

“Broken?”  Gladio asked.

Prompto shrugged.  He took in a deep breath and rushed out the next series of words. “Broken.  I can’t smell peoples scent and the scent I have is awful and I’m a guy and I’m …”  The sob that followed tore at his heart.

And then he smelled it.  Prompto never had a scent so it was easy to think of him as an beta.  He wore a nice cologne, but it wasn’t his own.  His scent, if that is what he was smelling, was like the sour lemons.

“Deep breaths, Prompto,” Ignis whispered and rubbed his shoulders.

Prompto obeyed and the smell subsided.  “Sorry.”

“There is nothing to be sorry about,” Ignis comforted.

“So, you were heat sick?” Noctis said.  “Is that like rut gut?”

“Do you remember anything from human health class?”  Ignis grumbled.  A normal gibe in an abnormal situation.

Prompto shrugged.  “I guess?”  He looked like he wanted to shrink away.  This obviously was very hard for him to talk about.   Gladio couldn’t think of anything to ask but he had so much to ask.

“Well?” Noctis asked.  “Isn’t there medication for that?”

“Yeah,” Prompto slid in his chair and Ignis prevented him from slumping to the floor. “I was taking a bunch and … and went overboard.”

“What does that mean?!”  Noctis yelled and Prompto froze up at that point.  The sour lemon smell grew stronger in the room and Ignis was comforting a pale and shaky Prompto. 

He understood what it meant to have an odd scent.

“Watch it big guy!” 

He stopped in his tracks.  He hadn’t even realized that he was in the training room and had nearly run over Nyx.  The man was giving him an annoyed look and swatted him with his towel.  The other man looked like he had just finished a workout and there was no mistaking the aggressive smell of cayenne pepper and leather that he gave off.  “Sorry, man.  Just lost in thought.”  He ran a hand over his short hair at the back of his neck.

“No shit,” Nyx grumbled and stomped past him.

Gladio growled as he entered the now empty training room.  He needed to blow off some steam and then he would talk to Ignis and check on Prompto.  He started his regular routine; push-ups, handstands, pull-ups, squats until his body burned and he was blinded his own sweat.

He wasn’t even aware of how much time he spent in the room or even if there had been other people in the room.   His arms were burning as he did pull-ups that he lost track of when a voice interrupted his inner pondering.

“Gladio?”

He dropped from the pull-up bar to see Ignis standing in front of him.  He had his arm crossed, his hip cocked, and his head tilted to the side with a concerned look on his face.  He also had a cold looking water bottle in one of his hands.

“Yeah?”  He wiped at his eyes and his legs decided to no longer hold him up.  He sat down crossed legged on the hard floor and looked up at the prince’s advisor.  He unfolded his arms and handed him the water bottle which he gratefully took and drank nearly all of it before he came up for a gasping breath.

“Thanks.  I needed this.”  Gladio crushed the water and threw it in the direction of the garbage can and missed.

“I can see that.”  Ignis said and stood in front of him.  “I was told you were in here for two hours.   That’s pushing yourself rather hard.”

Gladio grunted.  He wasn’t aware of the time, but from the caged clock on the wall, he could see that indeed two hours had passed.  No wonder he was thirsty, and his muscles were exhausted.

But now that he wasn’t working out anymore, his thoughts went back to Prompto.  “Who told him that he was broken?”

It was the main question that kept circulating back into his head since this morning.

Ignis let out a sigh and sank cross-legged onto the floor beside him.  “I believe it what he told himself as I don’t believe he had any support.”  Ignis placed a hand on his leg.  “Is that why you were so silent?”

Gladio snorted.  Ignis knew him all to well.  He had his own issues when he presented as an Alpha.  He knew that it was likely to happen, as his father’s own scent was unique for an alpha.  “Smelling like the flowers I’m named after is hardly comparable to what Prompto has been through.  I had my parents and, well, you, to help me through the whole presenting stuff and dealing with the strange family trait of smelling like flowers no matter what your secondary sex character is.”

“You were miserable for three months,” Ignis snorted.  “You wanted to be more alpha male than all the other alpha’s males even as a thirteen-year-old.  You had been so determined to break the family tradition even though I had no idea how you were planning on doing it.”

“I was a dumb kid,” Gladio smiled and put his hand on top of Ignis.  He smiled at him.  “Dad and Cor beat that out of me and woke me up that the scent was not as important as what my job was.”

“I’m grateful that you came down from that self loathing time.  I dare say, I do enjoy your scent,” Ignis said and to prove his point leaned in to take in a deep breath.  A very intimate movement in public.  Gladio smirked and wrapped his arm around Ignis, so he could pull him closer.  His scent was never a strong one and could never be used to intimidate any opponent.  He had the doctors thinking at first that he didn’t even have a scent and would present as a beta. 

But when he presented as an alpha with a scent that was so low key that it was only noticeable by those that were close to him. 

He knew it was not ‘normal’ for an alpha to smell like flowers, but that is what his scent was.   He was lucky.  He knew he was.  His family had carved the way to accept that they were destined to protect the king of kings.  All the Amicitia’s have had weaker scents.  It didn’t matter if they were male or female, all children of the Amicitia’s ended up smelling like a bouquet of flowers.

He had people to help him through his negative feelings and allowed him to quickly move past it.  Prompto had none of that.  He buried it so deep that he was hiding part of who he was from everyone to the point where he could have died.

“Is he going to be okay.  He looked so,” Gladio paused.  Weak was the word that he was going to say but that was not the right one.  “Small,” he finally decided.

“I’m working on that.  There is no way that he should be in this situation.”  There was a touch of anger in his voice as he spoke.

“Oh?”  Gladio looked toward Ignis who adjusted his glasses.  He still leaned against him though and Gladio was grateful.  Ignis was very proper when it came to how he expressed his affection.  They were alone, but they were in a public place.  Ignis was always worried about who was going to come around the corner.

Today he seemed not to care and Gladio liked it when he was affectionate.

“I want to ensure that he doesn’t go back to his foster home.”  Ignis sighed and adjusted his glasses again.  “I need to make sure that he won’t be left like … that again.”

“What’s the plan?” Gladio asked and threw his arm over his shoulders to keep him close.

“First, it will be finding him a safe place to stay.”  Ignis leaned fully on Gladio now and he couldn’t help but grin despite the depressing topic.  “He’s not going back to that house to stay.  I was thinking of a place in the Greenla sector, but I’m not comfortable with the thought of him alone until we can ensure that he will be okay.  He can’t stay with Noctis, but he could stay with me.  I will have to clean out the clutter in the spare room.”

“Ha,” Gladio barked.  “Ya know, Prompto is always welcome in our house.  Iris loves teasing him.” 

Ignis hummed.  “Well, we should have more than one option available for him.  Are you sure your father would not mind?”

“Nah.  He likes him.  We have enough food and no one in our house cares that he has presented as an omega.  Our house knows better than to judge someone being different than what is expected.”  Gladio pressed a kiss against Ignis forehead.  He knew that he was pushing the public displays of affection, but he was going to take advantage of it while he could.  He couldn’t help but feel his heart warm with Ignis hummed appreciably before speaking again.

“True.  And then he wouldn’t be alone.  We will have to ask him which he would prefer,” Ignis said with a heavy sigh.  “I have more things to work out and ensure he goes to talk to Doctor Audientis to help him through the rougher patches.  He has hidden his pain for so long that it may not even know how deep his hurt is.”

“What a shit show,” Gladio grumbled.

“Indeed.”

“Need help with anything?” Gladio asked and rubbed Ignis back.  There was a hint of caramel in his scent.  A sweet smell, but he knew that Ignis must be upset to lose control like that.  “You don’t need to take it all on yourself.

“I know I can count on you,” Ignis said.  “I will let you know if I need assistance.  Do join us for dinner tonight.  It will be comfort food.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.  Oh, wait.” Gladio growled.  “I have to pick up Iris and feed her.  After I take care of her, I’ll be over.”

“She has dance today, doesn’t she?” Ignis added.

“Yeah.  I promised dad, I would pick her up.”  Gladio let out a sigh, “Do call me if you need to pick up anything or whatever.”

“I will,” Ignis said and disengaged himself from him and stood.  He brushed his pants and shirt off and took a deep cleansing breath.  “I will see you later tonight.”

Gladio nodded as he watched Ignis leave the training room and decided it was time that he got up and quit overthinking things.  In addition, that he only had two hours to shower, finish his report and then pick up his little sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I shitpost on Tumblr 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys continue to take care of Prompto and Ignis is burning the candle at both ends.

Prompto was sleeping again.  Noctis worriedly looked inside his own bedroom where his best friend was sleeping.  He was really worried about Prompto.  He was supposed to be the sleepy one.

He understood why he was stressed and tired, but it really worried him.  He had spent some time reading up on heat sickness.  It sounded horrible and painful.  The horrible fever that would reach over forty degrees, the sweats, and confusion mixed with the torment and terrible want that come with a heat.

And Prompto had endured it alone.

From his reading, it sounded worse than rut gut.

He wondered if Prompto got heat sick every time or if this was the first time.  He also wanted to ask how he endured the heats on his own.  He knew how he dealt with his ruts.  He took a lot of showers and slept more than he normally did.  Ignis was always nagging him to drank lots of water and ensured that the bottle of lube was in his bedside drawer.

Which was embarrassing enough that Ignis knew what he did, but he was grateful at the same time.  He hadn’t taken anyone into his bed to help his rut.  He didn’t feel connected enough to anyone enough to allow them to be close to him when he was so vulnerable.  That wasn’t true.  He was not willing to make those that he trusted uncomfortable by asking them to join him and pulling someone randomly from school would be complicated. Things were complicated enough with being a prince never mind having to deal with crazy hormones.  All the other kids at school raved about other people’s scents and he didn’t get it.  He smelled them, but he never was turned on by any of it.   Everyone fawned over other scents and stank up the whole school with the mess of smells.

There were some pleasant scents, but it was not like he wanted anyone to drop their pants or anything.

Walking back into the kitchen he picked up his phone and tried to distract himself with some Kings Knight, but he only played a round before throwing it back on the table.

That was when Ignis came back he could see how tried he was.  He had a cup of coffee in one hand and frowning at his phone in the other.

“What’s up?” he asked.  “Things arranged?”

“Getting there.  I will have to clean my spare room out,” Ignis said and looked around the room.  “I do need to talk to Prompto.  Is he sleeping again?”

“He got tired and I told him to go back to bed.”  Noctis said.  “I’m worried about him, Specs.  How come I didn’t notice?”

This is what Noctis was most bothered about.  How did he not notice that he only true friend was suffering alone like this with such a big secret?  Why did he feel like he had to keep it a secret from them?  Noctis had a lot more questions but he had been asking things all wrong earlier and was upsetting Prompt and after a firm glare from Ignis, he shut up.

“He is ashamed of the fact that he is an omega,” Ignis sat down beside him.  “I believe that he had been taught that it was wrong and to be ashamed.  And I’m sure there are people that frown on those that don’t match their so call expected secondary sex characteristics.  Men will go out of their way to pretend to be an alpha when they are a beta, and the rarity of a male omega is often fetishized.”

Noctis frowned, “Well, that’s just dumb.”

“Agreed.  We know now, and we can be there for him.”  Ignis said.  “That is the best we can do for him.  And try to be more sensitive to his feelings.”  The last word was very pointed.

“Ugh,” Noctis groaned and ran his hand over his face.  “I know.”   

He hated that he had caused tears to come to Prompto eyes as he seemed to shrink in on himself even more than he already had.  “What else can I do?”  Because Noctis was at a loss of what to do next.  He wanted to do so much but he didn’t know what he had to do.

“You are already doing it,” Ignis said and smiled at him.

“Doesn’t feel like enough.”

“It never does.”  Ignis phone buzzed and he quickly answered it.  He stood up and walked into the kitchen. 

Noctis turned his thoughts back to Prompto.  He felt like he should be able to do more.  He was a prince.  His whole purpose in life was to do more.

Ignis let out a heavy sigh as he hung up the phone and rubbed his eyes.

“Who were you talking too?”  Noctis asked as he pulled his feet up under himself.

“My uncle.  He has taken some of my duties today so that I can ensure the arrangements for Prompto.”  Ignis rubbed his eyes.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Noctis asked as he eyed his friend and advisor.

“I believe I’ll sleep better tonight,” Ignis avoided and Noctis could see how weary he was.

There was no point in telling Ignis to get some rest, so he decided to pick up his phone again and try to get another round in when Prompto came out of the bedroom, rubbing his wild blond hair and yawning loudly.  “How long was I out?”

“It’s nearly time for dinner,” Ignis said.  “I shall order from that pizza place you two like.  I do believe you have a regular order.”

“Really?”  Noctis proclaimed.  He was shocked that Ignis was willingly going to call for pizza, but he wasn’t going to complain.  “Sweet!”

“I’m starving!”  Prompto proclaimed and sat beside Noctis. 

Noctis grinned widely.  It was almost like he was back to normal.  “You look better,” Noctis was so happy to see colour in his cheeks and a smile back where it belonged.  He couldn’t resist wrapping his arms around his shoulder and pulling him close.  “I’ll even let you have the first piece.”

“I feel honoured!” Prompto said and put a hand on his chest.

Ignis snorted.  “I shall make the call.”

“Are you feeling better?” Noctis asked.

“Yeah.  I really am.  Still kinda embarrassed about the whole thing and all the fuss you guys are having over me.”  Prompto seemed to shrink a little in on himself again but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was that morning. 

Noctis scoffed.  “Like it was a bother.”  His off handed comment caused Prompto smile brightly.  It warned Noctis to his core to see that Prompto seemed truly happy.  He bit his lip as he held back what he really wanted to say, but he didn’t want to make Prompto uncomfortable again by saying that he would do anything for him.

 

* * *

Ignis was glad to see that Prompto was almost back to normal.  He seemed to be smiling and happy again as he scarfed down pizza and guzzled pop until he was certain they were both going to burst.

He was afraid that he was going to have to disturb the bubble with some more serious talk.

“Iggy,” Noctis said and narrowed his eyes at him.  “You have that look on your face.”

“What look, highness?”

“That look that says you are about to get all serious and stuff.”  Noctis waved his cup at his accusingly.  “Do we have to get serious?”

“I’m afraid that we do, Noct,” Ignis said as he sipped another can of Ebony.  He should be buzzing with how much of that he drank in the last hour, but he doubted that he had ever found that he was more than exhausted.

Prompto’s smile fell.  Ignis hated that he was the cause of that look.   His blue eyes grew large and he chewed his lip.  His hands went to clutching the blanket that was draped over his lap.

“Okay,” Prompto whispered.  “Did the doctor get my test results back?”

“The doctor has set up an appointment for tomorrow, so I hope she will be able to go over them with you.”  Ignis said and crossed his legs.  “I want to talk about your living arrangements.”

Prompto blinked and looked confused.  “Living arrangements?”

Ignis realized that he probably should have had Dr. Audientis talk to Prompto first.   “We would all feel better if you did not return to your current guardian’s home.”  Ignis rested his elbow on his raised knee.

“Where would I go?  I don’t make enough at the sushi shop to cover rent on my own!”  Prompto said.  “I make enough to cover food and my phone and that is it.”  He was panicking.

“I have a spare room.” Ignis rushed the words.  “It’s not as spacious as your home but it will allow you easy access to the doctors and still close to you work, school, and the citadel.”  Ignis thought he was prepared for this conversation but not for the different colours of emotions that crossed Prompto’s face.  “You need to get away from your guardians and ensure that you get the help that you need.”

Prompto emotions finally settled on anger.  “I was doing the best I could!”

Ignis nodded and refrained from sighing.  He knew that Prompto had internalized a lot of the blame and he knew he was not equipped enough to help him through it.  The young man was so used to doing things on his own, he didn’t even know how to ask for help.  “I know, Prompto.  I know.”  He wanted to reach out to Prompto again but Noctis was sitting beside him and put a comforting hand on his arm.  “We will be able to help you now.”

Prompto sighed now.  “Help with what?”

“All this omega stuff.”  Noctis added.

Ignis had enough will power to not face palm. 

“Omega stuff?”  Prompto snapped.  “How can you help with all this omega stuff?  You’re an alpha and you’re a beta.”  Prompto pointed to each of them in turn.  “You don’t know anything about the omega stuff or what I’ve been through.”

Noctis eyes grew wide and Ignis waved his hand so that he wouldn’t say anything else.  He would have to work on Noctis diplomatic skills when talking to his friends about sensitive subjects.  He may be proving himself in the board meetings, but he forgets about other peoples’ feelings as soon as he is in the safety of his apartment.

“We can’t know what it feels like, but we want to,” Ignis said and was happy to see Prompto soften and the anger melt away.  “We are going to screw up, I’m sure but you have to remember that we will listen to you.”

Ignis was certain this his guardians did not listen to a concern that Prompto had over pretty much anything. 

“Sorry,” Prompto said.  “It’s just … a lot.”  He looked to Noctis and gave him a crooked smile.  “And still not used to people knowing, you know.”

“And I don’t mean to be a dick,” Noctis blurted and chewed his lip.  “I just hate that you were hurt like that and I didn’t even notice!”  Noctis looked at his lap.  “And you are all worried about losing our friendship when I was the worse friend for not even noticing and I know nothing about what you went through.”  The prince took in a deep breath.  “I’m sorry for being an idiot.”

Prompto covered his mouth with his hand.  “I was the idiot, you dork.”  The young man shook his head.  “I’m stupid about this stuff.”

“Hardly,” Ignis interrupted.  He hated that Prompto kept putting himself down.  “Now, back to my original query about living arrangements.  If you are not comfortable with living with me, I’m sure we can arrange housing in the barracks or even with the Amicitia’s.”

Prompto’s eyebrows went up into his hair line.  “I couldn’t stay there!”

“The offer is open.  Iris is quite fond of you and my understanding is that Lord Amicitia would not mind another under his roof.”   Prompto’s face went quite red as he ran his hands through his hair.

“I should probably talk to mom and dad about moving out.”

It was hard to hold back the distain that he was feeling towards his guardians.  “If that is what you wish, but I feel that the quicker me move you the better.”

“You can stay here until you get settled.  We still have to play that DLC from forever ago,” Noctis whined.

“But I can’t just up and leave like that.”  Prompto looked nervous and was ringing his hands together.

Ignis thought it was best to be direct.  “They had no issues with leaving you when you were in pain and suffering.  I may not be the best roommate, but I can assure you, that you will not have to endure things alone again.”

Maybe a little too direct.

Noctis narrowed his eyes at him.  Prompto mouth opened in shock.

Ignis cleared his throat, “Sorry for being rather forceful, but I was truly scared at your condition and knowing full well that it could have been prevented if only we had paid more attention.  I want to ensure that you will not have to endure that again.” 

He was shaken by the image of how Prompto had looked when he opened the door.  The mere thought of how dazed his eyes were, how clammy his skin was, and how the fever was cooking him from the inside and could have been all preventable.  The glazed look as he blinked slowly and didn’t recognize him was enough to turn his core to ice.   “Prompto.  I can’t force you to do anything that you don’t want to do, but knowing you have a safe place to go to, where you don’t have to be alone and …”

Prompto’s eyes were bright with tears and his chin was quivering.

Noctis pressed himself into his side and wrapped his arms around him.  Prompto quickly curled into his touch and hug and pressed his face against his chest.  Ignis clenched his jaw as he watched the blond crumble.  He wanted to rush and wrap his arms around him but refrained.  He didn’t want to smoother him either.

“Sorry, sorry,” Prompto sniffled as he pushed away from Noctis after a good ten minutes.  Noctis looked confused on what he was supposed to do.  “Still too emotional about shit.”  Noctis looked confused as to where to put his hands.

Ignis smiled softly at him.  “Understandable.”  He really should have him talk to the doctor first before delving into this.  He felt like he needed to talk to him as well, so he would know how to handle these situations without causing Prompto to break out into tears.

“Would it really be okay,” Prompto said as he scrubbed his face with his hands.  “I mean, you’re always be busy with stuff, I don’t want to be in your way.”

“You’re not in the way or anything,” Noctis said and grabbed at Prompto’s hands in his and squeezed them tightly.  “It’ll be cool.  You’ll be closer to the arcade and the shooting range.”

Prompto smiled.  A small one but still a smile.  It was good to see despite the tears that were there earlier.  “How am I going to move all my stuff?”

“Easy!”  Noctis said and beamed.  “Gladio is good at lifting stuff so we might as well put that muscle to use.”

Prompto’s face went through a whole array of emotions.  He started at being happiness, shock and then to dismay.  “I can’t ask Gladio to move my junk around!”

Laughing at his dismay, “Oh, he won’t mind.”  Ignis added.  “He wants you to be safe too.”

Ever being dramatic, Prompto let out a heavy groan and threw himself back on the couch beside Noctis.  “This is so much.”

“Yeah, well.  That’s why you got friends.”  Noctis said with a large grin.

Nodding and standing from his chair, Ignis decided that was enough emotional turmoil for the night.  “I think that is the heaviest topic to discuss.  You two can go play your game while I work on getting things arranged.”

Noctis jumped up dramatically to turn on the game system and threw a remote at Prompto.  He started to babble about how he couldn’t wait to start the new map.  They quickly went into ‘game mode’ as he called it.  Their whole world narrowed down to the characters they controlled on the screen.  He made sure that they both had soda and ensure that the dishes were put away.  He spent an hour working on the next days schedule and days emails before he texted Gladio.

 **Ignis (7:23 PM):** I will need your assistance tonight with cleaning out my spare room.

 **Gladio (7:33 PM):** Can do?  Done at the Princess?

 **Ignis (7:35 PM):** The boys are settled and playing their games.  Want me to swing by and pick you up?

 **Gladio (7:40 PM):** Sounds good.  I’ll pack an overnight bag.  ε＝ε＝(((((○´3`)ﾉ

 **Ignis (7:41 PM):** See you in about half an hour.

“Don’t stay up to late.  Prompto still needs his rest and I have arranged a meeting with Doctor Audientis and Mar tomorrow.  It starts at 9 am.”  Ignis stated as he went through the calendar again.

“Why so early?”  Noctis whined and threw himself back on the couch. 

“Normal people are usually awake at that time, Highness,” Ignis said with as minimum amount of an eye roll as possible. 

“Do I have to go to school?  Can I go with Prompto?”  Noctis sat up and asked looked at Prompto.  “Do you mind if I join you?”

Ignis knew that this was going to happen.

“You just don’t want to go to math.”  Prompto accused.

“It’s a bonus but I want to make sure that your treated right.  Everyone tends to behave when the crown prince is around,” Noctis said in a dull tone.  “Plus, maybe I can understand things better and quit putting my foot in my mouth.”

Prompto barked a laugh.  “Good point.  Yeah.  It’ll be nice not have to endure it alone.” 

“You need to be on your best behaviour, Noct,” Ignis said as he gathered his things.  “And Prompto, if you are uncomfortable with anything being discussed, you can tell him to leave the room.”

Nodding and reaching for his controller again.  “Sure thing.”

“I’m heading home for the night.  If anything happens, do give me a call,” Ignis stated as he put on his shoes and grabbed his bag.  He did feel a little anxious leaving them alone, but he knew that Prompto would be safe here, wouldn’t take any unnecessary supplements and would be able to ask for help without being shamed.

 

* * *

Gladio looked at Ignis spare room and whistled.  “So, this is why the door was always closed.”  The rest of Ignis apartment was immaculate.  Not a single thing out of place, but the boxes and piles seemed to be all in this room.

“It’s my room of shame.”  Ignis whispered beside him and adjusted his glasses.  “I never meant for it to get so bad.”

Gladio leaned into Ignis and kissed his forehead.  “You can’t be perfect all the time, babe.”

With a sigh of defeat, Ignis walked into the room.   “I’ll start on the right, you start on the left.  I want Prompto to have a comfortable room, not feel like he is being stuffed into a storage closet.”

“No problem.  I’ll start with the books.  You want them on the shelf in the living room?”  Gladio already grabbed a stack and was planning on carrying it out.  Ignis made an affirmative grunt as he opened a box.

They worked in relative silence for two hours.  Gladio had put on some music to work by.  Ignis was always very focused on whatever task he was performing.  They got a lot done in that time.  The bed was cleared, all the books were on the now over stuffed shelves in the living room.

Walking back into the room which was looking more livable.  The bed was stripped and Ignis had already started the laundry had a quite a list of things that he wanted to buy.  The small dresser and end table in the room was empty and the floor was clear but in desperate need of a vacuum.  Ignis had opened the closet door and was standing in front of a wall of clothes.  “Iggy?”

“I really have to keep better track of my belongings.”  Ignis sounded almost defeated.

Gladio walked up behind him and held him in a loose hug.   “I think you needs some sleep.”  He started to guide Ignis out of the room.  “We can take care of the clothes tomorrow.  You’re dead on your feet and you drank way too much coffee today.”

They shuffled together towards Ignis bedroom where they got ready for bed.  It was nearly midnight and he knew that Ignis would be up way to early again. Gladio crawled in first and waited for Ignis to crawl in beside him.  Ignis walked out of the bathroom with his face scrubbed, teeth brushed and wearing only a pair of boxers. 

Gladio patted the pillow beside him.  “All warmed up for you.”

Ignis smiled and crawled into bed.  After a few moments of wiggling to get comfortable they finally rested together.  Gladio on his back with Ignis pressed against his side, with his head pressed into his shoulder.  “Thank you, Gladio,” Ignis whispered as his hand wandered across his stomach.

“Any time,” Gladio whispered and stroked Ignis back.  He was certainly tense and if they had time, he would have given him a massage.  “How was Prompto doing?”

“He was still rather tired, but he seemed to be coping better.”  Ignis let out a deep sigh.  “I’m still very worried about him.”

“He’s a tough kid,” Gladio moved his hand down so that it rested neatly against Ignis lower back.  “I’m sure after a few bumps, he’ll come out better than ever.  And when he moves in here, he’ll get out of that mindset of being broken.”

Humming, Ignis nuzzled against his chest and press his hand to his heart.  “He didn’t recognize me, Gladio.  When I answered the door, he didn’t recognize me.  The more I think about it, the more it terrifies me that he was so far gone.”

“It won’t happen again,” Gladio said firmly.  “Doctor Mar is a great doctor and will help him go in the right direction.  Maybe he could even join the Crownsguard.  The kid showed talent.”

Ignis hummed.  “He is an excellent marksman.”  Ignis voice was slow and told Gladio that he was falling asleep.  “I guess this is why he didn’t turn in the paperwork.”

“Go to sleep, Iggy,” Gladio urged, “We’ll work things out and take all those old clothes to the charity hall tomorrow.”

After some incoherent mumbling, Ignis breathing evened out and fell asleep.  It took Gladio a little longer but not much.  Tomorrow would be another trying day for them all and he would have to make Ignis realize that he can’t notice everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Visit me on tumblr: [albedosoyna](http://albedosoyna.tumblr.com/)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto gets a surprise visit at the doctors.

The hospital had a high level of security on the wing.  He didn’t notice that before, but he guessed that made sense since this was where the glaives and royalty were treated.  He recognized Nyx standing on guard at the entrance.  He only gave him a quick nod as he walked in with Ignis and Noctis at his side.

Noctis was barely awake and nearly sleep walking.  Ignis would correct his path with the odd tap on his shoulder or arm.  Prompto would have laughed at the situation if he was not so worried about talking with the doctors.

What if he really hurt himself?  What if his anxiety was all because of the stupid pills he was taking that were supposed to be helping.

Ignis put a comforting hand on his back as they signed in and a young nurse escorted them all to a room that was named “Dulcis’s quiet room”.  The nurse told them to help themselves to the coffee and tea and that Doctor Mars and Audientis would be with them shortly.

Noctis promptly flopped onto on of the couches and groaned about how much he hated mornings.  Ignis stood by the door.  “I will leave you to the appointment.  Do give me a call if there is anything you need and once you are done, I will ensure that I come and pick you up.”

“You know, I can drive, Specs,” Noctis grumbled.

“Yes, all the more reason for me to pick you up.”  Ignis adjusted his glasses and smirked at the sleepy prince who crossed his arms and pouted.

“Whatever,” Noctis grumbled but accepted the coffee that Ignis had brewed him from the machine in the corner.  Soon, he was alone with Noctis and his worries.

“Your chewing your nails,” Noctis said and Prompto realized he was. 

“Nervous,” he muttered and put his hand around the cup he was holding.

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Noctis said and put his cup down and walked across the room to squish into the chair with him.  It was a tight squeeze but Prompto didn’t mind even though he pushed his friend off him so that he was sitting on the arm.   “When were done here, we’ll grab a meal at Kenny Crows.  I could use some fries.”

“You buying?” Prompto asked.

“Yep.” Noctis nodded.  “And we’ll make Ignis drive us to the arcade since he’s being an ass about me driving.”

Prompto laughed and was about to ask if the Shoot Out game was fixed when the door opened.  It was Doctor Mar.  Prompto could feel his heart jump into his throat.  She was a small woman with frizzy dark hair and large dark eyes.  “Hello Mr. Argentum, you look better today.”  She paused briefly and looked to Noctis.  “Your majesty.”  She bowed slightly in his direction.  “You’re up awful early this morning.”  She was totally teasing him.

“Ugh.  Whatever,” Noctis waved her off and moved to his own chair.

“Now, we are going to go over the test results and then there are a few more that I would like to conduct.”  She sat down in a chair, sitting in a manner similar to how Ignis always sat.  She had a tablet in her hand.  “Are you staying during the examination, your majesty.”

“If,” He looked nervously over to Prompto, “If Prompto doesn’t mind.”

“I would like him to stay for a bit.  I-I still really am nervous about all of this,” Prompto said and looked at his lap.  “For the most part.”

She nodded and started to talk about his blood work.

There was a lot of talk about vitamins and how he was lacking quite a few.  He was confused about this.  “But I was taking vitamins,” he whispered.

“Which ones?” Doctor Mar asked.

“They were in blister packs.”  He had been taking them since he started running.  It was to help him maintain weight and ensure that he was getting enough vitamins.  His parents got them for him.  “There was a mix of blue and white pills.  One of them said, AX-3 on the pill.”

She tapped stuff into her tablet with a very stern look on her face.  He showed her a bunch of pictures of different pills that he would say yes or no too.

“It appears that you were taking a mixture of some common vitamins as well as some suppressants and boosters.  The combination that you seem to be taking can be a very dangerous mixture, especially when taken over a long period of time and with the increase of medication you were taking while you were trying to supress your heat.  You were taking a mixture of supressing omega hormones and boosters for the alpha.”

The tears were causing his vision to blur as she talked.  He never thought of questioning his parents on what he had been taking.  He had always trusted them.

“We will work on getting you the appropriate vitamins that will actually work on getting your B levels and iron up to a healthy level.”  She said and tapped at her screen.  “I would like to give you a boost with some IV solution.” 

He nodded and rubbed his arms.  He was feeling so cold

“This sound terrifying,” Noctis whispered and had grabbed Prompto’s hand.  Prompto was glad that he stayed.  He doubted that he will even remember half of what the doctor was saying right now.  He was feeling more than overwhelmed.  Prompto gave him a quick look and it became clear that he had not meant to say that out loud.

“Why don’t we take a break,” Doctor Audientis said.  “Freshen up with some coffee and a snack before we start the IV solution and tests.  Would that be alright, your highness?”

“It’s all up to Prompto.”  Noctis said and gave him a pleading look. 

Prompto smiled at him.  “Yeah.  I think I need a break.”

Noctis face bloomed with a smile and Prompto felt a little bit warmer then.

They grabbed some chips from the machine down the hall and Prompto got another coffee.  He was still feeling tired and needed the boost.  

“That was a lot,” Noctis said as he opened the bag of chips.

“Yeah.  I didn’t realize that I was so broken even before this?” The blond sighed and stirred his coffee. 

“I don’t think that you were broken before they started giving you all that weird pills,” Noctis grumbled as Doctor Audientis waved to them to join him.  Noctis stuffed some of the chips in his mouth as he walked to the quiet room.

Prompto blinked as he looked at the open door.

“Mr. Argentum?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you alright?”  The doctor had tilted his head and gave him a concerned look.

Prompto blinked a few times and forced his feet to move.  “Yeah.  Yeah, I think I will be.”  As he passed by the doctor, he rubbed his arms and asked.  “Are the tests going to hurt?”

The doctor smiled warmly back.  “We will make you as comfortable as possible.”

* * *

The IV wasn’t bad.  A poke in the arm and some cool solution that was a bright yellow colour was pumped into his arm and then a bag that was red.  The nurse explained that they were a mix of vitamins.  She was more detailed, but he didn’t catch all of it.  She did mention that he should do at least three more treatments to stabilize his levels.

The test on his scent gland was less pleasant.

After they had hooked him up the IV and he had to wait for the bags to enter in his arm, Doctor Mar came in with a tray.  It made him nervous.  She explained the whole thing about how they were going to numb the skin around his throat and then she was going to stick a needle inside to pull out a small portion of the gland.  She promised to make it as painless as possible.

It was still very nerve wracking as she spread iodine and then numbing agent.  He closed his eyes when she pulled the rather large needle out to stick in his neck.  That was when Noctis started to lose his cool. 

“You can go for a walk if you want, Noct,” Prompto said as the doctor was getting ready with the needle.  He was fine with the IV portion, but this part was obviously upsetting him.

“Are you sure?”  Noctis looked like he didn’t want to leave and run through the door at the same time.

Prompto raised the arm with the IV.  “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’ll check in with Specs,” Noctis said, gave him a pat on the arm without the IV, and went out in the hall and quickly staring at his phone.

“Okay.  You’re going to feel pressure now.  Stay still.”  Prompto closed his eyes and felt the gloved hand on his neck.  He bit his lip as he felt the pressure of the needle breaking through his skin.  It didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel right either.  It took all of thirty seconds, but it felt like an hour.  “All done.  Put your hand here and put some pressure.”  He followed the orders and took a breath.  “There you go.  Sorry for such an obtrusive test, Prompto, but it is the most definitive way to determine if there is a glandular issue or if it was the medication you were taking.”

He made an affirmative sound.  He was afraid to talk because he was afraid that it would come out as a sob.   “Rest while the IV does the job.”

“All done!” Mar announced as she put a small bandage on his neck.  He knew that it was only a small puncture, but the area was pounding along with his heart beat.  The nurse that was monitoring his IV encouraged him to close his eyes and put a warm compress over his eyes.   He didn’t even realize how easily he fell asleep.

  

* * *

 

Ignis was catching up with a few things when the phone beeped.  He quickly looked at it and saw that it was Noctis.

 **Noctis (10:23 am):** They are putting a needle in his neck!!!!  I couldn’t watch.  Thought I was gonna pass out.  ┣▇▇▇═──(╯︿╰)つ

Ignis raised an eye brow. 

 **Ignis (10:25 am):** I do hope everything is alright?

Ignis stared at his phone as he waited for a response. 

 **Noctis (10:28 am):** Tests but the needle.  I couldn’t take it.  I’m waiting for them to finish and then I’ll go back in.

Ignis wanted to ask a million questions but texts were not the way that he would get the information. 

 **Ignis (10:30 am):** Make sure you eat more than what the vending machines offer.

 **Noctis (10:32 am):**  

Ignis huffed but refused to text back.  He was tempted to text Nyx and have him put an out of order sign on the vending machine.

“You look like you are getting a headache?”

He jumped and looked up to see Gladio leaning against he door frame.  It had only been a couple of hours since he last saw him, but he was looking better than before.  “Noctis eating habits are atrocious.”

“And this is news?”  Gladio pushed him away from the door and came into the room.  “How’s things going?”

“No complications,” Ignis said.  If things were going wrong, he would have received a lot more texts that didn’t include an empty bag of chips.  “So far.  Other than Noctis being squeamish about needles.”

“I got a few minutes and you look like you need a moment.  I got muffins and a fresh pot of coffee brewing before I get swept up in the next training session.”  Gladio said in a manner that did not leave any room for argument and Ignis was not inclined to argue.

Coffee sounded like a wonderful idea.

They walked briskly to the kitchen area where he poured a fresh cup of coffee and Gladio had put two muffins on the table.  One was a caramel apple flavour that he loved.  Gladio must have taken a walk to the bakery that just outside the citadel to get them.  Sitting at the horrible break room chairs was a relief and having Gladio across from him was even better.

“You’re taking this all rather personally,” Gladio said.

“Pardon?”  Ignis blinked at Gladio and stopped ripping apart his muffin.

“This whole Prompto thing,” Gladio took a sip of his coffee.  “I can tell when you’re blaming yourself over shit and this is something that you shouldn’t’ be.  Kid hid it from everyone pretty damn good.”

Ignis stuffed some of the muffin in his mouth so that he could gather his thoughts.  “It still bothers me that I missed all the signs.  In hindsight, they were all there.”

“Of course, they were, but he felt for whatever reason that he needed to deal with it alone,” Gladio said.  “He thought he was managing it okay.”

Ignis shook his head.  “I know you’re right, Gladio, but I still feel like I failed him and Noctis.  I should have checked on him sooner the first sign that Noctis was worrying about him.  Then, maybe he wouldn’t have been in such a bad shape.”

“It’s not like you to second guess yourself.”  Gladio’s voice was soft as he leaned against the table.

Rubbing his forehead, Ignis lowered his head so that he didn’t have to meet the amber analyzing gaze.  “Gladio.”

“He’ll be fine.  We got his back now and that’s all that matters.  We will have to have a discussion with him on how dangerous it is keeping secrets like this.”  Gladio was so casual in his conversation but it did make Ignis feel better.  Gladio was always had a calming effect on him.  “And you need to stop internalizing your anxiety.  You were talking in your sleep last night.”

Ignis tensed and looked at the stern look on Gladio’s face.  “None of this is your fault and I also have to say that you should keep your daggers away from Prompto’s parents.  Slicing them a new hole would not be productive.”

“I said that?” Ignis snorted. 

“You’re were more violent than that actually, but that summarizes it.”  Gladio reached across the table and put his hand over his.  “You need a venue for that aggression.  We’ll make sure that you can get some training in tonight.  It’s Friday so the Hall B will be empty, so you can take your aggression out on me.”  The shield gave his hand a squeeze before pulling back to drink his coffee.

“There is too much to do to prepare for Prompto moving in.  I haven’t even prepared a shelf for the bathroom, purchased new towels and let us not forget the closet still full of my old clothes,” Ignis said.

Gladio rolled his eyes and chuckled.  “You can spare an hour or two.  Iris is willing to help too.  She was thrilled with the idea of going through your old clothes.”

“Why would she be interested in my old clothes?” Ignis was genuinely confused.  Iris was not a delicate girl, but she liked skirts and blouses.  She would not be interested in white button-down shirts and dress pants.

Gladio laughed.  “She learned to sew after the time that dad and I tried to make her outfit for dance.  That was a fail and she asked for a sewing machine and supplies.  She made it very clear that we were not to touch any of it.  She spends hours redesigning things to make them work for her and her friends.  You saw what she did with my jacket.  Girl’s got a lot of talent with a needle and thread.  The ones that she can’t fix up she’ll donate to the hospice.”

“Yes, I do remember that.  Well, it will be amusing to see what she can do with, what does Noct call my clothes, ‘senior citizen style’.”  Ignis shook his head at the memory.

“I call it sharp.”  Gladio smiled brightly at him.

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” Ignis returned the smile.

Gladio barked a lap and finished off his coffee.  “Gotta run and kick some glaive butt.”

“Don’t work too hard, if you expect to keep up with me.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of disappointing you.”

They had been dating for two years now, and Gladio still found ways to disarm him with a simple comment, touch, gesture, or look.  They had been the best of friends before they decided that they both wanted more from the relationship.  Gladio going into rut and confessing to him that he had wanted to kiss him while getting him home.  He had given the kiss and had never turned back.

His phone ringing to bring him out of his pleasant thoughts.  It was Noctis ring tone so he immediately pulled it out of his pocket to answer it.  “Highness?”

“Iggy.”  His voice was almost a whisper.

“Is something wrong?”  Gladio immediately tensed up and his brow furrowed as he looked at him.

“His dad showed up,” Noctis whispered.  “And he kicked me out of the room.”

Ignis couldn’t help but be alarmed at the statement.  “Be right there.”

He only had to give Gladio a look and the other man gave him a nod.  “I’ll drive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffffffffffffffffhanger.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy angst ensues.

 

Noctis hated that he wasn’t in the room.  He felt like he should be in there.  Protecting Prompto.  Instead he sat in the chair nearest the door and tried to hear what was going on in the room.  He hadn’t been able to hear a word.

He wanted to barge in there and tell the poor excuse for a father that he was a moron and didn’t deserve a son like Prompto.

“Unbecoming of a Prince to be eaves dropping.”  A harsh whisper in his ear brought him back to the reality.  Jumping away from the two-close voice as he turned to see Nyx grinning at him.

“Jerk!”  He lashed out and slapped his arm.  “Aren’t you supposed to be guarding the ward door or something!”

“Lib’s turn,” he said nonchalantly and waved at the entrance.  “Thought I’d check on you and your friend.  He is doing okay?”  There was concern on Nyx face. 

Noctis chewed his lip.  “He will be.”  He really hoped he would.  He still felt like a failure of a friend for not seeing the signs sooner.  “Don’t you have to shower or something?”

“I’m not ripe enough yet,” Nyx said with a dramatic sniff of his arm pit.  “You really should chill a bit.  The doctors here are the best and will fix up whatever is wrong with the sharp shooter.”

“Sharp shooter?”

“Seen the blond on the shooting range.  He still has the best target on the board.”  Nyx leaned back.  “And I hear the Hot Shot game has the high score.  Pissed off Pennel and I think he spent a weeks pay trying to get his score back on the top.”  The Glaive smirked and looked at the door.  “Seriously though.  Is the kid okay?  Normally he is all sunshine and rainbows, but he looked so pale when you guys walked in here today.”

“Yeah.  The doctors are just doing tests to make sure.”  Noctis looked at the door again and wished Nyx would go away so he could at least try to listen in again.  “We really don’t want a lot of people knowing.  You know how the press is.”

“Well, the Glaive knows.  He was dragged here in the middle of the night.   I wasn’t on but Libertus was and he was concerned.  Ignis carried him in.”  Nyx leaned in.  “We’re all glad that he’s doing okay.”

“I am too.”

Noctis phone buzzed and he looked at it.  It was Ignis announcing that he was in the parking lot.

“Cavalry arrived?” Nyx asked as he looked to the door where the imposing figures of Gladio and Ignis were framed.  Noctis was not aware that Gladio was coming but was glad to see his shield along side of his advisor.  Nyx sat straighter as they approached. 

Ignis was walking briskly and his face was set in a stern concentrated look that was usually reserved for when he was in trouble or worried about something.   “Highness?  Has there been word?”

Nyx stood then.  “He’s been trying to eavesdrop but wasn’t able to get any information from the door.”

Noctis kicked the back of Nyx legs nearly sending him sprawling to the floor.  “Dick.” Gladio caught him and directed him out of the Prince’s hitting range with an eye roll.  “I know he told me that he would be okay, but …”  He let his words die out.  They all knew what he meant.

Nyx gave him a small bow.  “I will take my leave now that you are secure, majesty.”  He patted Gladio on the arm and gave Ignis a nod.  “Gentlemen.” 

The world centered on the door again.  He wanted to break it down and demand what was being said but he didn’t.  That would upset Prompto even more and that wasn’t fair to his friend.  Ignis hand fell of his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze.  “I’m sure everything will be fine, Noct.”

Looking to his advisor and the clear worry on his face made him wonder.  Gladio stood in front of him with his arms crossed and frown on his face.  “How long as he been in there?”

“Forever!”  Noctis whined.

“It has been an hour since you called.”  Ignis would know that of course.  It was to long, as far as he was concerned.

Noctis stared at the door and willed it open.  “Chill, princess,” Gladio said.  “You’re tensing up.”

“I can’t help that I’m worried!”

“I don’t think you two have anything to worry about.”  Gladio said.  Noctis looked up at his shield with a frown.  How could he not be worried?  “Prompto is a smart kid and I’m know Doctor Audientis and Mar know what they’re doing.”

“But his dad is in there and I don’t know what to do or how to deal with that!”  Noctis blurted.  He could deal with it if it was the doctors in there talking to Prompto.  But it was the fact that Prompto’s father, a man that he only met once in his life, was in there.  A person that didn’t seem to care that the person that he was supposed to be treating as a son, nearly died.

“We will deal with it as it comes.” Ignis said.  He sounded confident and sure of himself but Noctis felt useless and shaky and he didn’t know what to do.

That was when the door opened and Prompto’s father walked out without so much as even looking at him.  Noctis wanted to grab and yell at him but didn’t.  Ignis seemed to want to have words too but it was Gladio that used himself as a wall to stop both from acting.

“Now is not the time.  This is about Prompto.”

Gladio was right.  Prompto was more important right now.  Getting up from the chair, he stood at the entrance to the room.  “Is it okay, if I – we come in?”  Ignis was at his back as he asked the question and seemed as eager to enter as he was.

Doctor Audientis was sitting across from Prompto wearing a look that Noctis couldn’t quite read.   “Give us a few moments.” 

Noctis didn’t want to back away and close the door but Ignis made him.  A million thought were running through his mind.  The one where he thought of sending Gladio after Prompto’s father and throwing him in the nearest dumpster was the most satisfying.  “Let him gather himself,” Ignis said softly.

That was the right thing to do but it was frustrating.  He sat back down in the chair he had just vacated and Ignis sat beside him.  Ignis grabbed his hand and held it tightly.  He wondered if it was for him or himself.  It didn’t matter.  It was what he needed.  He needed that contact to keep him from going mad and he needed Gladio hovering near by. 

They sat for an hour as they waited before Doctor Audientis opened the door and welcomed them in.

“How is he fairing?” Ignis asked as they stood.

“He will recover.  He needs to rest but I do believe he has other plans.”  Doctor Audientis shook his head.  “He will need to come back tomorrow.”

Not all the comforting of words.  Noctis swallowed hard as he walked into the room.  When he stood in front of his best friend he could see that his eyes were lined with red but there wasn’t any sign of tears.

“Prom?” he asked.  “You okay?”

Prompto nodded and turned to give them all a weak smile.  “Hey, guys.”

“Is everything alright?” Ignis asked.  Gladio had his hand on the advisor’s shoulder as if he was holding him back. 

“Yeah.”  He took a deep breath as if he was centering himself.  “Yeah.  Dad helped me make sure I was making the right decision.”

“What does that mean?” Noctis asked.  He tried not to show the panic he was feeling.

Prompto sniffed and looked like he was shrinking on himself again.  “You know, he knew I was going to be an omega when I was ten.”  He rang his hands together and twisted his feet against each other.  “I was on those pills since I was ten.”  His voice stared to quiver and there was a shake to his hands that he tried to hide by hugging himself.  “They had been trying to change me since I was ten.” 

Noctis felt pure horror at those words and he doubted that he was hiding it.  His father knowingly hurt his son.  It made him want to throw up.  Before he could respond, Prompto straightened himself up again cleared his throat.  He was no longer shrinking in on himself.  “Ignis?”

“Yes?”

“How quickly can you guys help me move out?”

“Today,” Gladio said without a moment of hesitation.  “I heard Noct already volunteered me for the heavy lifting.”  He gave Noctis shoulder a push and the prince had to struggle to keep from toppling over.

“I can get a truck or van from the garage immediately.”  Ignis already had his phone out and was searching through his contact list.

“I already supplied the muscle.”  Noctis said as he rubbed his arm where Gladio pushed him.  The dread that he had been feeling had all washed away with the request.  Everything was suddenly lighter.  “Are we allowed to go now?  Because we can go now?  Right?”

“Yeah.  I must come back tomorrow, but I really want to move out now.  My dad may be there though, so …”  Prompto’s voice trailed.

“I will make sure he stays out of our way.”  Gladio said and Ignis nodded.

“How can you do the heavy lifting and be a body guard?”  Prompto asked as he slowly stood.  The bandage on his neck had a silly cartoon of a malboro on it and the one on his arm where the IV was had a chocobo.  Noctis knew that was Doctor Mar’s doing.  She always did things like that even for the older visitors to make them comfortable.

Gladio barked a laugh and put an arm around his shoulder.  “I do it all the time with Noct, so it won’t be any more stressful.”

Noctis twisted his face at the remark and he glared at his shield who was giving him a knowing smile.  Prompto’s laugh stopped him from saying anything, for now.  They had to focus on the path forward and not the path that was already taken. 

Deciding that this was the time to take advantage of the distracted Ignis, “I’ll drive.”

“Hardly,” Ignis said.  “Gladio, if you can take Noctis and pick up the truck, I will take Prompto back to his house and we can start gathering his things.  Brenar will ensure that there are some boxes available as well.”

“What!?   I want to go with Prompto!”  Noctis protested.  He wanted to know what exactly happened with his father and he wanted to know now.  “And what if he’s there!”

“I can handle him, Noct,” Ignis said with ice dripping in his tone. 

Prompto looked so tired and he must be exhausted from dealing with all the medical tests and the emotional stress.  He didn’t need to add to it by protesting.  “Fine!  But we will eat greasy burgers and fries for supper tonight.  With double cheese and gravy for the fries.”

“Of course, Noct,” Ignis said without a word of protest.

Prompto snorted.  “I’m going to have to run a couple of extra miles to work off all the junk we have been eating.”

“It’ll be worth it.  Plus, Iggy will compensate with a week of salads anyway.  He always has a plan to try to get me to eat more vegetables.”  They were almost out the door when he saw Nyx and Libertus talking and looking at them.  He couldn’t stop the rumours that were spreading through the Glaive.  It was good to know that the Glaive were worried about him and not being malicious about it at all.

Prompto was going to be safe.

That was the most important thing out of the whole sordid ordeal.

Prompto was safe.

* * *

Ignis felt as if his blood pressure was finally back to normal after getting to the car and Prompto slouching in the seat beside him.  Noctis and Gladio were arguing over who was going to drive the van that they haven’t got to yet.  He was a little alarmed that Prompto feel asleep as soon as they left the parking garage, but he shouldn’t have been surprised.

It had to have been an extremely stressful day for him.  The cute cartoon stickers almost glowed against his pale skin to remind of all the other medical activities were done.

Hearing Prompto state that his guardians knew and provided the medicine that was making him ill made him see red.  He was greatly relieved when he announced that he wanted to move out immediately, even though the room wasn’t quite ready yet, but Prompto was more important than a messy room in his otherwise neat apartment.

He kept the music on low and drove to Prompto’s former house.

He didn’t know if he was disappointed or pleased that his guardian was not there.  He doubted that he could have held himself back if he was there or got in his way.  If he needed to, he would call the Glaive in to deal with the situation.

“We here?”  Prompto whispered and rubbed his eyes.

“Yes, we are.  Are you ready for this?” Ignis asked as he shut off the engine.

“As ready as I ever will be,” Prompto said as he exited the car.  Ignis followed behind him as he fished a key out from underneath a dead plant.

“It’s probably a disaster,” Prompto grumbled as he opened the door.  “I didn’t clean up that day you took me to the hospice.”

“I took the liberty of cleaning after.  I didn’t know the extent of what was going on at the time and didn’t want you to return to a mess.”  Ignis said as they entered the threshold.  It looked the same as he had left it.  He doubted that his guardians had been back to the house.

“You did?”  Prompto said as he slipped off his shoes.

“Seeing how exhausted you were, I thought it would help your recovery.”  Ignis said.  “We should start with a plan on how we are going to tackle your belongings.”

“Oh.  Yeah.  Um.  I’ll get some bags from the kitchen, so we can stuff my clothes in.”  Prompto shuffled toward the kitchen and Ignis eyed the gaming system.  He would leave that to Noctis to pack up as he was surely aware of all the parts and games that should be put together with it.

Ignis walked toward the laundry area where he had last left the sheets in the dryer.  They were most likely wrinkled but they would clean.  With the sheets piled in his arms, he went towards Prompto’s room to see the blond standing in front of the door with a hand covering his mouth.

“Is something the matter?”  Ignis nearly dropped the sheets to run to his side.  It was very hard to remain calm when everything that was going on.

“You changed my sheets,” Prompto whispered.

“Well, I didn’t want you to come back to the bed in the state that it was in.”

His eyes were round as they darted around the room.  “You cleaned my room.”

“I tried not to disturb to much,” Ignis suddenly bad about taking the liberties that he did.  He honestly didn’t think Prompto would mind all that much.  He was so used to cleaning up after Noctis that he never thought that others would be upset over other people touching their stuff.  “I did not throw anything away, if that is a concern.”

“No.  No.  Um… it is not that, but,” Prompto’s eyes were on the bed.  ‘Um … it’s just that.”  His face was turning red as he turned to look at Ignis.  “I had,” is voice trailed off as he looked at the sheets in his arm.  “An item.” 

It took Ignis a moment to realize what was causing the flurry of embarrassment.  He did not mean to embarrass Prompto and tried to give him a comforting smile.  “Ah.  Do not fret. The item is hidden in a box that seemed to be designed for it under the bed.  I didn’t want to leave it lying in the open.”

Ignis had never seen anyone look as embarrassed as Prompto did at that moment.  The blond covered his face with his hands.  The whine that he let out was distressing.  Dropping the sheets in the hall, he walked up beside Prompto and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.  “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“I know,” Prompto drawled and uncovered his face.  “But it still is.  This whole situation is just stupid.  I never question the vitamins,” Prompto raised his hands and did air quotes around the word, “or anything about the whole situation.  Even with all my moogling of stuff, I didn’t figure it out.  I went with everything and endured.”  Prompto sighed and looked at him.  “You all must think I’m an idiot.”

“No.  We don’t think you’re an idiot.  You’re trusting,” Ignis said and squeezed his shoulder again.  “We are supposed to be able to trust our guardians.”

“I still feel like an idiot.”  Prompto grumbled.  “I didn’t even question any of anything.”  He waved his arm dramatically.

“Well, you are now.”

Prompto gave him a shadow of a smile.  “I guess it is a start, huh?”

“It is,” Ignis said with a smile that seemed to make Prompto seem more at ease.  “And before the other two arrive, I recommend that we start packing and you should start with the box under the bed.”  Ignis didn’t intend to reignite his embarrassment but it did.  Prompto’s hands went back to his face as he walked into his bedroom.  He walked to the end of his bare mattress and collapsed on top of it with a dramatic moan.

“Prompto?”

“I’m going to die of embarrassment at this rate,” he whimpered into the mattress.

“Now, now, that’s not a thing.  Most everyone has a little something that they would like to hide from prying eyes.”  Ignis said as he scanned the room and hoped that it was all fit in the room that he had to offer.

“I’ll stuff it in a bag of socks and underwear,” Prompto mumbled.  “This is never a conversation that I thought I would have with anyone.”

“Conversation?”

“You know, about dildos.  Who talks about that type of stuff?”  Prompto rolled over and off the bed.  He reached for the small box that was there.

“You would be surprised,” Ignis said.   He smirked but did not add anything to the conversation.  He doubted Prompto wanted to know that he had his own box with a collection of items that he had acquired since his relationship with Gladio started.  It was still something that he was nervous to talk about or bring up with Gladio, even though the other man seemed to have no issues with bringing in ‘marital’ aids.

“I’m not ready for this conversation,” Prompto blurted as he clutched at the small box.

“Then start packing.”  Ignis commanded.

“Right, right!”  Prompto moved in a quick burst to his dresser and after placing the object he was embarrassed by was stuffed the black garbage bags and starting to stuff his clothes over top of it.  Ignis went about gathering items from the closet and placing them on the bare mattress for packing when the others arrived.

It was obvious that the blond was tiring quickly as he pulled a second bag and it looked like he was having a hard time coordinating his efforts to get his t-shirts gathering up. 

“If you are tired, you can take a break,” Ignis said.  “Sit down and send me in the right direction for what you want to pack and maybe text Noctis to tell him to stop bickering with Gladio.  I’m sure they are arguing about something petty again.”

“I can’t have you guys doing everything for me.”  Prompto dropped a belt that he had pulled from a drawer.

“During this time, you can count on us to do what is needed,” Ignis said and meant it.  “You endured everything else on your own, and now, you don’t need to move forward like that.”

Ignis could see the blond start to shake again.  “It’s going to take me some practice for that.”  

He walked up to the smaller man and put his hands on his shoulders.  “I have no issues with remind you that we are at your side,” Ignis stated as he heard a knock at the front door.  “Ah, they must be here.”  He gave Prompto’s shoulders a pat.  “Now go catch your breath and I shall organize the rest.

Gladio and Noctis had let themselves in as he met them in the living room.  Gladio had an arm full of folded boxes.  Noctis had four frozen drinks in a tray.  “Refreshments!”  The prince announced and handed him an ice cappuccino.  He hadn’t had a coffee for three hours now and it was starting wear on him.  The drink could have been a gift from the Glacian herself. 

Gladio dropped the boxes on the floor.  “Where do I start?”  The other drinks were frozen lemonades.  Noctis had the regular, Gladio always got the raspberry one and he was certain the one with both swirled in the cup was meant for Prompto. 

“Start making some of those boxes.  We have some bags stuffed with clothes already.”

“Yeah, yeah.”  Noctis mumbled as he walked by him with Prompto’s mixed lemonade to the bedroom he had just vacated.

“At least take a box.”

The prince held up the two drinks.  “Hands full.  Be right back.”

Ignis rolled his eyes and looked to Gladio who shaking his head but already getting to work folding a box.  Ignis took a drink of the blessed drink and let out a deep sigh.  It tasted so good.

“Heh,” Gladio grunted as he put an empty box on the couch.  “Thought that was only a look you got when we’re in bed.”

“Heathen,” Ignis muttered back but took another drink before turning to the bedroom.

“You love it!”  Gladio yelled after him.

Ignis was not going to argue but they had other things to worry about and packing and getting Prompto out of this house before one of the other occupants of the house arrived home.

Prompto was sitting on the edge of the bed with Noctis sitting beside him.  He was holding the colourful lemonade that normally would have made him smile but he looked upset again.

“You okay?” Noctis asked as he took a sip of his own drink and bumping it against his.  Prompto took it as a cue to take a drink of his own.

“You know, we were a real family once and I think they did care about me,” Prompto voice sounded so full of pain.  Ignis was glad that Noctis took the cue and put his arm around him.  “They were even proud of me for my grades, my working out, and my pictures.   It would have been enough for them.  If I wasn’t an omega.”

Ignis froze at the door and put his hand out to stop Gladio from entering. Those words were enough to tear at his heart.  Gladio made a soft grunt of disgust behind him as he listened.

“Is that what your dad said?”  Noctis asked.

Ignis really wished he would stop calling Prompto so-called parent “dad” that but refrained from correcting him.  The man did not deserve that title.

“Sort of,” Prompto said and took another sip of the drink.  “He said it all nice and all, but that is what he said.”

“What a moron,” Noctis mumbled.

Prompto took another long drink of the frozen lemonade.  He looked like he was going to say something else, but his hand flew to his forehead and he let out an anguished moan.  Ignis panicked at the sound.  His thoughts raced at what else could have been wrong with him or maybe he was going through withdrawal or something that the doctors had not predicted.  Gladio took a couple of steps forward as Prompto threw himself back on the mattress.  “Argh!  Brain freeze!”

The panic melted away into a quick flurry of emotions; relief, happiness and then annoyance.  Gladio had taken a few steps into the room and seemed to have gone through the same array of feelings.

“Okay, twerps!  Let’s get moving.  You,” he lifted the mattress, forcing Prompto up right again.  “get your gear in order so we can get out of here.  I’m not doing all the heavy lifting.”

Noctis yelled as he fell to the floor.  “You’re supposed to be protecting me, not hurting me!”

“Then get your butt in gear and let’s get moving!” Gladio commanded and offered a hand to Noctis.  The prince took it and brushed himself off.

Ignis directed them on where to start packing things and organizing the van.  Things were progressing well.  Noctis was going through things and not complaining to much about it.  After taking a box to the van and reorganize it so more thing can fit it, he saw Gladio staring into the fridge.

“There’s nothing in there.”  Ignis said as he went to pick up another box.

“No shit.”  Gladio slammed the fridge door shut.  His face was set in frown and he looked very agitated.  “Glad were getting him out of here.  This is complete anak shit.”

Walking up to Gladio, he put his hands on the other’s man face.  He could tell when he was agitated.  He was giving off all the cues of an alpha that wanted to fight.  There were times that he was glad that Gladio scent was subtle.  His skin was warm and his teeth tightly clenched.

“Easy,” he whispered and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips to help him calm down.  It worked.  Gladio’s shoulders untensed and drooped, his jaw unclenched, and his eyes closed for a moment and the anger left them when he opened them again.  “There we go.”

“Thanks.  I needed that.”  Gladio said and took a step back.  “He sure hid a lot from us.  There is no food in here.  I love Cup Noodle, but you can’t live off it.”

“Gladio,” Ignis put a hand on his chest and tried to keep a straight face.  “I never thought I would hear that coming out of those lips.”

“Yeah.  Never thought I would say it either.”  Gladio crossed his arms and leaned against the counter.  “This situation is all sorts of messed up.”

Nodding and looking back at the room where the prince and his friends were still packing up things.  “I never asked you if you were alright with him moving in with me.  I made the decision without consulting you.”

Gladio snorted and shook his head.  “I trust you with my life and heart and you don’t make any decision lightly.  If I was concerned, I would have brought it up long ago already.  This is what he needs.  To get out of this.”  Gladio made a sweeping motion of the kitchen.  “No one deserves to put up with this shit.”

His words eased a weight that Ignis was feeling in his shoulders.  He was so focused on ensuring Prompto was taken care of that he didn’t think of what his boyfriend would think about how eager he was allowing an omega to move into his apartment.

“Don’t worry, Ignis,” Gladio said.  “You always do the right thing and we will stand by your side stand by your side and his.”  The larger man wrapped his arms around him in a hug that would normally make Ignis melt into a puddle but there was still too much to do.  Gladio seemed to sense this as well and let him go with a small pat on his back.

The other two emerged from the bedroom.  Prompto had a stuffed grey chocobo in his arms and Noctis was carrying a box.  “All cleaned out.”  Noctis announced.  “Time for burgers.”

“Do you need one last look around?” Ignis asked.

Prompto shook his head.  “No.  I think that is everything and if I’m missing anything, I’ll get a new one.”  There was a shake in his voice that made Ignis want to hug him, but Noctis took the cue and bumped his hip against the blond.  It made Prompto smile and that was enough for now.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladio has a conversation with his father about Prompto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Work and shit. So, here is a super short chapter to show that I have not forgotten this story.

 

Sunday morning was the day that was guaranteed that everyone was in the Amicitia house.  Clarus wanted to make sure that he spent some quality time with his children and during the week, it often got to hectic for even a simple dinner enjoyed together.  They would have a large breakfast and talk around the table and be a family for a change instead of running wildly around Insomnia.

Clarus was enjoying his coffee as he watched Iris help Jarod make breakfast.  It was her choice today, so it was apple cinnamon pancakes.  Iris was working on the cream cheese icing where Jarod was at the stove with the pancakes.

It was a great way to start the morning.

Usually Gladio was up by now.  He had heard his son come home late last night. Clarus had gotten up and was going to give his son hell for being so late without so much of an explanation.  But before he opened the door, Gladio’s phone rang with the distinct tone that he used for Ignis.

“Don’t worry, Iggy.  I made it home fine.”  Gladio said into the phone without so much as a greeting.  It caused him to stop and listen.  He was not one to eavesdrop on his children, but he felt like it was wrong to interrupt.  “I know, but tomorrow Sunday.  Iris would be disappointed if I wasn’t home.  Plus, it will get all those clothes out … no, I’ll unpack them in the morning.  I’m way too tired to do that … Iggy.  Go to bed.  Things will be fine.  Noctis and Prompto are already sleeping and so should you.  Iggy.”  There was a pause and a low chuckle.  “Yeah.  Love you too.  Goodnight.”

Gladio’s entered his bedroom and for a moment, Clarus almost followed him.  But it was two in the morning and words would be clearer in the morning.

“Gladdy!”  Iris yelled as Gladio entered the kitchen.  He headed straight to the coffee pot and pouring himself a cup.  “How much icing do you want?”  She wrapped her arms around his waist and he hugged her back.  It made Clarus smile to see his children caring for each other like this.

“Extra.  I need a sugar boost.”  Gladio took a sip of the coffee and let out a sigh.  “Emptied out Iggy’s closet last night so there is a tonne of clothes for you to sort through.  After breakfast, I’ll help you stash it all in the craft room.”

“Sweet!” She put out her fist and they bumped them together.  “Go sit.  I’ll get you the first serving.”

“What about me?” Clarus asked. 

“You didn’t get me a whole bunch of clothes that I can make new dance outfits with!”  Iris said as she went to plate breakfast.

Clarus shook his head but didn’t comment further.  Gladio looked tired.  “You alright, son?”

“Tired,” Gladio grumbled. 

“Still dealing with Prompto?” he asked.  There was a lot of rumours flying around and he was curious about them.  One that disturbed him the most was that Ignis was cheating on Gladio with Prompto.  He had laughed at that rumour and told those spreading it to stop being idiots, but he still wanted to know what was going on with his son and his friends.

“Yeah.  Been a stressful couple of days.”  Gladio rubbed his eyes and took another drink of coffee.

“How’s Ignis doing?”  Clarus wondered if there was some truth to Ignis not being faithful.

“He’s going to work himself into an early grave.  He’s been looking after Noctis and then making sure Prompto has everything too.  I’m trying to take the pressure off him a bit, but he is just so…”  Gladio waved his hands around.  “You know.”

“Dedicated?” Clarus filled in the word for his son.

“Yeah, that’s the word.”  Gladio finished his cup of coffee and got up to get another.

“Is Prompto better?”  He liked the kid.  So ambitious and full of energy.  There was a lot of potential and it was almost humorous how he was almost the opposite in everything that Noctis was.  He was a good friend and what the prince needed in his life to keep him balanced.

There were rumours going around that he had cancer, the flu and even one saying that his appendix burst on top of the cheating one.  He would have to talk to Cor about making sure the Glaive have something better to do that gossip.

“Yeah.  Still a little tired from everything but it will be so much better when he’s settled in with Ignis.”  Gladio put more milk than he normally does in his coffee and was giving it a look as if it had betrayed him.

“He’s moving in with Ignis?”

“Yep!”  Iris said and placed to plates on the table in front of them.  Gladio’s indeed had extra icing.  “That’s why I get his old clothes.  They had to clean out his spare room and I can’t wait to dig into them.”  She bounced back to where Jarod was getting her plate ready with an extra serving of apples.

“Gladio?”  Clarus questioned his son who looked down at his plate. 

“Yeah.  After breakfast, kay,” Gladio whispered.

Clarus dropped that part of the conversation despite how curious as to how this turn of events had come about.  He turned his conversation to daughter who talked with her mouthful most of the time about her dance class and how he had to keep his calendar clear for her recital in three weeks where she was going to have a whole knew routine for him to watch.  He ate more than he should of and then was roped into unloading the van of all Ignis old clothes.

“There’s a lot.”

“You should have seen the boxes of notebooks.  There were six boxes of notebooks from the beginning of time that we moved to his other closet.  We are so lucky that he is so organized, or his place would be a disaster.”  Gladio said as Iris grabbed a bag and carried it into the house.  She directed them where to put everything and once they were done, it filled up the craft room.  Iris had started to sort through things before they had even finished.

With Iris left to plot her newest outfits, Clarus directed Gladio back into the kitchen where Jarod had already cleaned up everything and had brewed a fresh pot of coffee for them. 

“Now, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Clarus asked as he seated himself back at the table.  “The rumours are rampant.”

“Rumours?”  Gladio shook his head.  “I don’t want to know what they are.”

“Then fill me in, son.  Prompto was sick, wasn’t he?” Clarus asked and waited for his son to talk.

“Yeah.  So bad that Ignis took him to the hospital.”  Gladio’s jaw tightened and his hand clenched into fists.  “He was in bad shape and he was all on his own.  His so-called parents weren’t there, and he was trying to deal with it all on his own.”

Clarus raised an eyebrow.   “What was wrong with him?”

Gladio grunted and looked down at his feet.  He could see that his son wanted to say something, but he was holding back.

“It’s not my place to say, dad.”  Gladio rubbed the back of his head and gave him a sad look.

“It’s not serious, is it?” Clarus was worried that the cancer rumour was true.

“It could have been,” Gladio sighed heavily.  “He’ll be okay.  He’s seeing Doctor Mar and Doctor Audientis to get him through it all.”

Clarus was familiar with Doctor Mar.  She was one of the best doctors in the ward and she was the one person that even the King would defer to.  Doctor Audientis was a psychologist and therapist.  He understood that he was a good one when dealing with the Glaives that were suffering from Post Traumatic Stress.

“Why would Prompto need to see Audientis?”

Gladio gave him a look as if he was an anak startled by headlights.  “Um,” he rubbed the back of his head and turned his head to the side.

“Gladio.  What’s wrong with Prompto that he needs to see Audientis?”  It was a direct question that he was not going to take anything but the truth for the answer.

“Dad,” Gladio’s voice was low.  “He was being neglected by his parents.”  He still wasn’t looking at him in the eye.  “He got really sick because of it.  He had no food in his house when we went to move him out.  He was fending on his own and it was just,” his voice trailed off and he looked back up at him.  “That’s why Ignis is taking him in.  He was feeling guilty.  When he went to check on him, Prompto didn’t even recognize him at the door, was burning up and …”  Gladio’s voice trailed off with a deep sigh. 

“And?” Clarus pushed.  He could tell there was more to it than what he had just said.

Gladio returned to looking at his feet.

“He keeps saying he’s broken,” Gladio said and shuffled his feet.  “He looked so small, dad.  When he said that.  Just because he’s different, he was taught that he was broken and needed to be fixed and he’s all messed up because of it.”  He still didn’t look up.

He put his hand on his son’s shoulder and forced him to look up.  He could see the concern in his son’s eyes.  At that moment, Gladio reminded him so much of his wife and he had the same compassion in him.  Gladio was the best of him and his wife and he could see that in him on days like this.

“Why is he different?”  Clarus asked.

Gladio got a trapped look and his shoulders sank.  “He was sick because he was taking a bunch of pills that he shouldn’t have been taking.”  Gladio finally looked him in the eyes.

“Was Prompto on drugs?”

“Not like that,” Gladio said.  “You can’t say anything, dad.  He’s still dealing with it and he doesn’t need the world knowing.”

“Are you calling me a gossip?”

“No!”  Gladio growled.  “Dad!  Quit making this difficult!”

“You’re the one making it difficult.  What drugs was Prompto taking?”  Clarus was now having thoughts of how he had totally misread Prompto.

The King’s shield watched his son quickly gather himself up and in a hushed tone, answer him.  “He was on hormones.  His parents were trying to prevent him from being an omega.”

It took him a few breaths to realize what that statement meant.  Prompto had always presented himself as a beta to the world to know that he was hiding who he was, was alarming.  Seeing Doctor Audientis made sense.

“Why was he pretending to be a beta?”

Gladio shrugged.  “I don’t think he had a choice.  His parents were drugging him since he was ten to make him into something that he’s not.  I don’t think he’s come to terms with all of it yet.”

Taking a sip of his coffee to try to gather his thoughts on this matter.  He didn’t know what he was feeling.  He was angry and sad all rolled into one for Prompto being treated that way.  Gladio was looking at him as if he was waiting for a reaction.

“His parents should be put in the dungeon.”  Clarus finally said and could see the relief wash over Gladio.

“Agreed, but we are taking care of Prompto first.”  Gladio leaned more casually on the counter.  “Ignis already has plans to draw and quarter Prompto’s parents.  He was talking in his sleep and boy, is he ever violent.”

Rubbing his beard, Clarus sat down at the table.  “Good thing you’re on his good side.” 

This information did worry him though.  He remembered reading the report on Prompto when he started to befriend Noctis at the start of high school.  There was not much information on his parents.  That was obviously an oversight.  “You okay with him moving in with Ignis?  There is already a rumour going around that he’s cheating on you with Prompto.”

Gladio nearly dropped his cup of coffee.  “What?”

“You know the rumour mill.”

Gladio shook his head and grumbled under his breath.  “They also think were all doing Noct.”  Clarus pretended not to hear his son mumble.  He was aware of all the rumours that milled about.  He endured them in his youth as well and was glad to see that Gladio rolled his eyes at them as well.

Silence stood between them for a few moments and allowed Clarus to think. 

“How is Prompto taking everything?”

“In stride, I guess.  I think he’s still trying to get used to what is happening.  I’m not sure if he really understands what happening right now.”  Gladio sighed heavily and closed his eyes.  “He’s in good hands and we’ll make sure he gets through all this.”

“That’s good to hear,” Clarus said.  “Make sure that Ignis doesn’t burn himself out taking care of Noctis and Prompto.”

“I’ll make sure or that.  Once Prompto levels out, I’m sure things will work out.”  Gladio looked at his empty coffee mug and looked like he was contemplating another mug.  “I wanted to tell you sooner but, I know that Prompto doesn’t want everyone to know, you know.”

“I know,” Clarus said.  “I won’t tell a soul, but I will open an investigation into his parents as I am not happy to hear that they were neglecting and drugging him.”

“Dad,” Gladio groaned.

“I can handle that part.  You take care of the kid.  I can do that part without being to direct.”   Clarus rubbed a hand over his short hair.  It was getting to the point that he needed to get it shaved again.  He would visit the barber next week.  “Well, I will actually get Cor to handle it and see what we missed in the first investigation.”

“First investigation?”

“We had to make sure that Prompto was not a threat to the crown.  He passed but now I worry about the screening process.”  Clarus said.  “Don’t worry about that and take care of Prompto to ensure that he can remain at the prince side.  Noctis needs Prompto’s brightness in his life, despite this dark time he is having.”

Gladio stance and face softened.   “Thanks dad.  I don’t think Noct could handle losing his best friend.  It’s just an all around shitty situation for him to be in.”

Agreeing with his son, he put his cup down.  “Alright.”  He clapped his hands together.  “Before we get swept away, how about a jog to burn off all the sugar that Iris just fed us.  I’m sure you will be wanting to check on Ignis and Prompto.”

Gladio nodded.  “Sounds good, Dad.  Something physical will clear my mind.  I’ll go ask Iris but I’m sure she’s already ripped through half of Ignis old shirts.”  His son headed out of the room to go fetch his sister and change.  He followed suit.

But before he went for the jog with his son, he phoned Cor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I derp on tumblr [albedosoyna](http://albedosoyna.tumblr.com/)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto has a emotional roller coaster of a day.

The lighting was the room was wrong.  When he blinked his eyes open, the room should have been darker, but it was filled with sunshine and was starting to feel warm.  Noctis also had blackout curtains in his room. 

It took him a few more moments to realize that he wasn’t in Noctis bed, but in the guest bed in Ignis apartment – or his bed.  He would need to get used to that.  Noctis was pressed against his side and nearly pushing him off the bed.  Noctis was a selfish sleeper and Prompto knew this but it wasn’t so bad when you were sleeping on a super sized king-size bed.  At least, that was what he was going to keep telling himself.

Sliding out of the bed, he went into the shared bathroom.  Ignis had already set up a shelf for him where he had put some of his hygiene products.   Ignis had shown him where everything was and had fretted over there being enough towels for them both.  He had looked in the mirror and cringed at the sight of his wild hair and how tired he looked.  Scrubbing his face and brushing his teeth and hair made him feel a bit better. 

He still hated how he looked.

Walking as silently as he could as to not wake up the two other men in the house, he went into the kitchen.  He was hoping for some leftovers stashed in the fridge.  Ignis had always made sure there was leftovers in Noctis fridge and encouraged him to eat them on a regular basis.  Ignis kitchen was intimidating.  It was so clean that everything sparkled.  The coffee machine was fancier than the one that Noctis had.  Since he was the first one up, he thought he should make himself useful and make a pot. 

It took him a few moments to find the coffee grounds and figure out which button to press on the machine, but he got it going before he ventured to the fridge to see if there was something he could snack on.

There was a lot to snack on.  There was a large array of fruit, berries, vegetables, eggs, and meat wrapped in brown paper with names that he did not recognize.  The door had one of the racks just with cans of Ebony.  He smiled at that and Ignis caffeine addiction.  He settled for an apple for now.  He didn’t want to make a mess and upset Ignis.

The kitchen was starting to smell like coffee and he took a deep breath in.  It smelled wonderful and made him feel more at ease.  He found the mugs and was amused that all of them were large. He had his coffee made when Ignis shuffled out of his room.  His hair was flat, and his eyes hooded behind his crooked glasses as he blindly walked into the kitchen.  It was amusing to watch as he robotically went through getting a mug and filling it up.  He didn’t acknowledge him until he had a sip, let out a dramatic sigh and slouch against the counter.

“Morning,” he finally said.

Ignis blinked at him, “Oh, morning.  I didn’t realize you were up yet.”

“Noctis just about had me pushed out of the bed,” Prompto said and pointed to the bedroom.  “And was a little hungry.”  He lifted his apple to show that it was half eaten.  “I hope it is okay.  I will make sure I buy some groceries to replace anything that I eat.”

“Don’t worry about the food.  Most ends up at Noctis place and used for meals.  It will be nice to know that the vegetables will be eaten on a regular basis by more than just me,” Ignis voice was still slurred and slow.  He took another drink of the hot coffee.  “You can bring home some sushi from your job from time to time.”

“Su-shi,” he stammered and then clamped his hands over his face and let out a pained groan.   The calmness of the morning was broken, and he felt panic rise.   “I missed a shift!”  He yelled and leaned against a wall.  He tried to breathe but the air didn’t want to come in.  He most likely lost his job and now he had no source of income at all.  He couldn’t count on his friends to support him like that.  He only had a couple more months of school, and he had bills to pay.  His chest felt like he was being squeezed and his head was buzzing with too much information that his ears were ringing.  “What am I going to do?” 

“Breathe, Prompto,” Ignis said and his hands were on his arms.  “I have contacted your boss already and told him that you fell ill.  He will add you back in the schedule once you are well.”

“You… you did?” Prompto whimpered and hated how weak he sounded.  He was able to look at Ignis eyes who was think with worry.

“Yes.  I made sure that he was contacted.  I did not give him any details.  When you are ready, you can go back to work.  Don’t worry about anything until you are well enough.” 

“But…”

“Prompto, breathe.”  Ignis demonstrated how to breath and he followed suit.  His vision cleared, and the buzzing lessened.  His chest still hurt but it was loosened enough so that he could breathe.  “There you go.”

“Sorry,” he whispered.  “This is all still all jumbly.”  He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.  What was he even saying?  He sounded like an idiot in front one of the smartest men he knew.

“Yes, that is a good word for this situation,” Ignis rubbed his arms a few times before patting them and going back to his own cup up coffee. “Now, finish up your coffee and apple.  We do have another doctor’s appointment.  Do you want something more to eat before we go?”

Before his panic attack he would have said yes, but now he wasn’t sure if he was able to even finish the apple.  “Do I have time to shower?” 

Ignis looked at the clock on the wall and nodded.  “We have an hour.  I will try to wake Noctis up enough so that he knows that we are gone.”

“He’s not going to come with us?”  Prompto was a little concerned with the thought of going through the doctor visit alone.

“I doubt that he could do two early mornings in a row,” Ignis said as he looked at the room.  “His majesty has his limits.  Go have your shower.”

Taking another sip of his coffee but it was sitting well with his stomach anymore, so he put it aside for now and went to go have a shower.  He made a point of avoiding his image in the mirror.  He could hear Noctis protesting the early morning hour and Ignis practice ease at dealing with the sleepy prince.  He was glad that something were normal.  It felt weird using Ignis shower. 

He hadn’t been in this place before last night and it was still weirding him out a bit that this was his new home.  It was such a whirlwind of a night, between packing up all his stuff and then moving it in here.  Halfway through unpacking the van, he had sat down, saying that he needed a break and they didn’t stop him.  It was only supposed to be five minutes, but he was gently shaken awake a couple hours later by Noctis and told that it was time to go to bed.  All his boxes and bags were scattered about the apartment and it looked so discouraged.  Ignis was slumped against Gladio near the door wishing him goodnight.

Mumbling a quick good night to his friends both before crawling into his new bed.  He hadn’t even realized that Noctis was next to him until he woke this morning.  

He got in the shower and looked at the array of soaps and shampoos.  He had his own cheap bottle placed next to Ignis’ more expensive looking soaps.  The feeling of being an intruder washed over him.

It took a couple of a couple of deep breaths again to prevent another panic attack from consuming him.  He tried to clear his mind and focus on the shower, but he remembered his dad’s face as he spoke to him yesterday.  How disappointed he seemed to be in him.  He wasn’t concerned.  He wasn’t worried.  He was annoyed that he was following his proper medicine plan and allowed his omega side to take over.  He didn’t care that he just about died.  He didn’t care that he had been alone when this all happened.

Sobbing was all he could do, and he didn’t try to stop it.  No one would hear him in the shower, so he wouldn’t have to bear the look of Ignis eyes and the worry creases on his forehead.  Or have Noctis look all confused and lost because he didn’t know what to do.

He didn’t know what to do.  What was he supposed to do now?  How was he going to function?  Would he be able to work again?  Would he be able to finish school?  Would he be able to get a job?  Would he be able to stop being so damn emotional?

His thoughts whirled in all the directions at once, so he couldn’t even tell what he was thinking about anymore.  The water turned cold, but the tears were not stopping so he stayed until a voice made him look around him.  He didn’t realize that he was now sitting in the tub with his legs pulled to his chest and his head resting against the cold tile wall. 

The water stopped, and he was surrounded by something soft and warm.  He was being lifted but he couldn’t stop crying and he started to shake.  Noctis was there because he could hear the prince saying something.  Ignis was talking to him and he couldn’t make out what he was saying.  All he could hear was his pounding of his heart and the chattering of his teeth.

He was such a mess and he couldn’t help but cry.  He was broken, and he didn’t know how he wouldn’t ever be fixed.

* * *

 

The yell terrified him and startled him awake.  At first, he thought it was just a remnant of a nightmare.  Noctis sat in the strange bed and was very confused as he looked at the room cluttered with boxes and bags and tried to place himself.   Wasn’t Prompto supposed to be here.

“Noctis!”

Was that Ignis yelling for him? 

He threw the blankets off him and just about tripped on them as he scurried out of the bed.  It took him a few steps to realize that he was at Ignis place, and the yelling was coming from the bathroom.  The sight of Ignis with Prompto wrapped in a towel and pressed to his chest startled him.

“Noct, get my phone!”

“What happened?”   He couldn’t move.  Prompto looked pale, was shaking and had his eyes squeezed shut as Ignis tried to hold him in a towel.

“Phone!”  Ignis snapped.  Noctis straightened and did what he was told.  Ignis was seldom curt and it startled him.  He turned on his heel and looked frantically around.  He first looked in the kitchen but didn’t see anything there.  He had a lucid moment and dashed into Ignis bedroom to see that Ignis phone was beside his bed.  He grabbed it off the night table and was startled with the lamp came crashing down to the floor.  The phone had been plugged in and he didn’t realize it.

The lamp would be dealt with later.  He quickly returned to the bathroom where the scene was changed from how he left it.  Prompto’s eyes were open and was sitting on the floor with the towel draped over his lap.  Ignis was leaning against the sink, his night clothes were soaked.  They both looked out of breath.

Noctis held the phone and looked at both of his friends.  “What happened?”  He slowly sank to his knees to join his friends on the floor.

“I’m okay,” Prompto said.  He didn’t sound okay.  He was still shaking, and he was hugging himself.  He looked pale and it was scaring Noctis.

“I believe that he was having a panic attack,” Ignis said. Noctis had never seen Ignis look … rattled.

“I’m okay,’ Prompto repeated and tugged at his towel.  He was taking in deep, shaky breaths as he seemed to be trying to stop his shaking.  “I’m okay.”

“Are you?” Noctis asked.  Prompto sure didn’t look okay to Noctis.  He seemed fine last night.  He was tired, and he seemed determined when they had left his former home.  It was a lot to go through in the last couple of days and he had been proud that Prompto was holding it all together.  It seemed though that it all crashed down on him.  “Because that’s okay if you’re not.”

His blue eyes turned to him and they were full of tears.  Prompto let out a whimper and sniffled.  “Sorry, guys.  It … it kinda all hit me at once.”

“No shit,” Noctis said, “I would be catatonic with all that your dealing with.”  He smiled and was glad that Prompto was able to return it, even if it was not as bright as normal.  The blond’s bare shoulders slumped and tugged the towel tighter around his waist.

Ignis let out a huff.  “Really, highness.”  His advisor stood up looking a bit shaky.  “Prompto, do you need further assistance?”

Prompto looked at his lap and shook his head.  “I think I embarrassed myself enough.”  He wiped at his face with his right hand and Noctis noticed that there was a tattoo there.  Normally, Prompto had a wrist band on there and it was always hidden.  It was just something that he always had, and it was never questioned.  He would not b ring it up now but would ask why Prompto would hide a tattoo from them.  “I’ll just get dressed.”

“You still have shampoo in your hair,” Noctis pointed out. 

The blond reached up and touched his sticky hair and sighed.  “Guess I should finish up first, eh?”

“Finish you shower.  I’ll make sure there is breakfast ready before we head to our appointment.”  Ignis started to exit the bathroom and nudged at Noctis to get him out of the way of the door.  “Do call if you need any help.”

Prompto was nodding as the door closed.  Noctis was still on his knees and looking up at Ignis.  “You can get up now.  Kneeling before me is hardly necessary.”

“Smart ass.  Still got your phone,” Noctis said and held it up to him.  “I may have broken your lamp getting it.”  It was better to get that disaster out of the way.  “I’ll order you a new one.”  Ignis grabbed his phone and then offered one to help him to his feet.  Noctis gladly took it.  The morning scampering was not agreeing with his back or knees.

“I wanted a new lamp anyway,” Ignis said and put a hand on his back to escorted him into the kitchen.  “You woke up rather quickly.  Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think I ever heard you like that.  Freaked me out,” Noctis rubbed the back of his head as he followed Ignis into the kitchen.  “And I didn’t remember where I fell asleep, so I was really confused at first.”  He could smell the coffee, but he was more in the mood for hot cocoa or maybe a tea latte.  He wondered if Ignis had anything other than coffee in his house.  “Are you okay?  You looked really out of sorts.”

“I was startled is all,” Ignis said and rubbed his forehead before reaching for a cup that was on the counter.  He didn’t seem to be bothered that his whole front was wet from pulling Prompto out of the shower.  “I heard crashing and … “Ignis pushed his glasses up on his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. 

Noctis understood.  “It was like when I came back from Tenebrae.”  Ignis had been so worried about him and how weak he had been.  He felt that it was his fault that he was hurt and should have been there to protect him.  Ignis had helped him through his physiotherapy to get back to normal.  His advisor had been his rock despite the worried look on his face when he was in pain.  There had been plenty of times when he needed to be rescued from precarious situations, and a couple of times that was a shower.  His legs weren’t as strong as he thought they should be when he insisted that he could have a shower.  There were times he would sit in the shower and then realize that he couldn’t get up after.  There had been times when he cried and hoped that no one would hear him; he wanted to be strong for his father and didn’t want to worry Ignis.  Ignis heard him though.  His chamberlain was always at his side and took care of him even if he was annoying at times, but he wouldn’t change their relationship for the world.

The coffee cup was refilled and Ignis took a deep drink.

“And drinking so much coffee can’t be helping your nerves,” Noctis chastised.  Ignis always drank too many drinks with caffeine.  It was the only weakness that he knew about him.

“Now, don’t you get on me on that.  Gladio does that enough,” Ignis retaliated.  It was his only soft spot and Noctis used it to poke fun at him and to get him of topic.  It was the one thing that he could hold over his advisor’s head.

“Whatever,” he responded and leaned against the counter.  The adrenaline of the abrupt wake up call was wearing off.   “It’s way to early to be awake,” he whined.  The clock on the stove said it was seven in the morning.  Seven.  What a horrible hour.  He groaned and slumped further against the counter.

“I didn’t plan on waking you until it was time for us to leave for his appointment.  I’m sorry for startling you so.”   Ignis put his hand on his shoulder.  “Why don’t you return to bed or would you like me to drive you back to your apartment?”

Noctis rolled his eyes.  “I can drive you know.”

“Only if you have a car,” Ignis said, “And you do not have a car here at the moment.”

Noctis blinked.  “But we have a car and the … van.”  He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.  “Damn it.  Gladio took the van, didn’t he?”

“Glad you were able to piece that together.”  Ignis said and picked at his wet shirt.  “Now, I do have to get ready.  Please let me know if I should call you a car.”  He took his mug with him into the bedroom and left Noctis alone to contemplate what he could do next.   He could call for a driver.  One of the Glaive would get him home.  He wished he could call a cab like a normal person.

He contemplated going back to bed when Prompto came out of the bathroom.  His wet hair was a mess but free of products.  He was dressed in a pair of loose fitting jeans and Noctis noted that he had his wrist band on again. 

“Hey,” he waved sleepily at him.

Prompto shook his head at him and smiled at him.  It was good to see a real smile on his face after seeing him so freaked out a few moments ago.  “Are you going to make it?  It looks like you’re going to fall asleep on your feet.”

“Maybe,” Noctis stood up straighter despite how he wanted to get back into the bed that he was forced out of.  “Need some coffee or anything?”  There was about half a cup of coffee left in the pot.   Ignis really did drink too much coffee.

“I’ll wait until my stomach settles,” Prompto patted his stomach.  “Panic attack gave me an upset stomach and ...”  His voice trailed off and he nervously ran his hand through his hair. 

“Yeah.  Understandable.  I’m going to crash on the couch until its time to go.”  Noctis stumbled gracelessly over to the couch and collapsed on it.  “This is way to early to be awake.”

“Sure thing, dude.”  Prompto said before he fell asleep on Ignis uncomfortable couch.

 

* * *

The day was turning into an emotional roller coaster for Prompto.

The panic attack in the shower was just the top of the ride.    He felt better after his second attempt at the shower and seeing how sleepy Noctis was in the kitchen.  Having to leave to go back to the hospice was hard.  He started chewing his nails as they pulled up to the building at the thought of seeing the doctors again.  Not because he disliked Doctor Audientis and Mar, but because of what they were telling him.

The first conversation was with Audientis and it was on his own.  The doctor asked him how he had done after talking with his father and Prompto told him everything.  It was so easy to talk to him and glad that he was good at listening.  He even about the panic attack that he had in the morning.  Audientis had a way of not making him feel stupid about his feelings and was glad about that.  He was able to talk about how he was feeling severely overwhelmed by everything.  Audientis told him to look at things in smaller steps instead of looking so far forward.  “Your first step is to get better.  Your second step is to finish your schooling.  After that, we will see what other steps you need to take.”

“But …” he still felt like there was to much else that had to be taken care of.

“You already have taken your first step which was accepting your friends help, the other step of moving out and the big step of telling your friends about being an omega.”

He had not thought about it that way.  A lot of things had happened, and he never thought of it as steps forward but awkward stumbling and failing.  Audientis assured him that it was steps forward and promised to help him build a plan so that he won’t feel overwhelmed.  He was given some homework to start a journal to write down the steps.  He was assured that they didn’t have to make sense but to write things down to go through later.  Their next session would be to go through the book and sort things out into easy steps.  He even gave him a plain black note book that looked like the ones that Ignis carried around.

It felt like he spent the whole day with him, but it was only two hours.  The session ended when Doctor Mar came into the room with a clipboard he thought he was going to cry again.  She smiled at him and tried to make him at ease, but he was still nervous about what she had to say.  He knew that they were going to go over all the tests that they did on him.  He wanted to know but he didn’t know if he was ready to know.

“Would you like Ignis or Noctis to be here for this conversation?  I will have to wake the prince.  He is sleeping in the waiting room.”  Doctor Mar did like to tease Noctis and Prompto found that refreshing and he had easily agreed that he wanted at least Ignis there so if had another panic attack someone would remember what was being said.

Always thoughtful, Ignis brought in a snack for him and made sure that Noctis had a cup of cocoa even though he looked like he was going to fall asleep.

As he waited for her to speak he just about got himself into another panic attack.  He talked himself into believe that there was something wrong with him and that he needed different medication or surgery.  He kept touching the spot of the neck that they had put a needle in yesterday.  There was only a small little bruise that wasn’t big enough to even be mistaken as a hickey.  Doctor Audientis saw the signs in him and was able to talk him down from his self-induced panic attack.

And then Doctor Mar started talking as she went over the information on the clipboard.  The first news was there was nothing wrong with his glands and with the removal of the medication that he had been taking before they should start working like normal and if he does produce a scent it won’t be just when he was distressed or sick.

“What will I smell like?”  Prompto was curious.  He had only ever been told that he smelled bad.  “Will I still smell bad?” 

“I wish I could tell you that.  But it really is up to the receptor if the smell is bad or not.”  Mar tried to clarify but it was clear that she couldn’t really answer.

“Will I be able to smell other people scent?”

“Time will tell.”

He never really thought about it before but only knew second hand how others smelled. “It is so dumb that I can smell the pot of coffee in the other room, but I can’t smell anyone scent.”

And Mar went into an explanation of how the scent is attached to pheromones and his receptors were dulled from the various medications that he took.  He may or may not ever get that ability back as it will be dependent on a whole bunch of medical stuff that he wasn’t sure that he understood.   Ignis was jotting notes down, so hopefully he could at least google it later or have Ignis explain it to him in terms that he understood.

Once that talk was over, she set up a schedule for to return to ensure that there weren’t lasting effects from the removal of the medication and therapy sessions and assured him that she could contact them anytime.  He was given a sheet of paper with the list of appointments and times that he slipped into his new notebook.

The other test showed that there was no damage to his heart, lungs and all the enzymes and hormones and stuff should return to normal once his vitamin levels stabilized.

At least that is what it sounded like.   Most of it was good news.

He wanted to ask some more questions on what will happen when his next heat would hit him, but he wasn’t ready to deal with those questions or answers.

Noctis and Ignis were shooed out of the room and he was hooked up to the vitamin solution, first the yellow and then the red, in a comfortable chair and surrounded by a heated blanket.  It was so warm and comfortable that that had a nap until the nurse woke him up with a gentle shake.  She escorted him to the quiet room where Noctis was waiting for him and talking with a member of King Glaive that when he got in the room, noted that it was Nyx.

Nyx seemed to enjoy teasing the prince when he had a chance.  Ignis was no where to be seen so he went to toward Noctis.  The prince gave him a large smile; so large that it extended to his eyes and it made Prompto stomach flip.  “How do you feel?”

“Better.”  He rubbed the newly applied chocobo band-aid as he stood in front of the prince. 

“Hey there, Sharp Shooter.   Glad to see you looking better!”  Nyx leaned towards him.  He was still uncomfortable with everyone calling him a Sharp Shooter.  He wasn’t that good with a gun and needed a lot more practice.  Playing the video game, Hot Shot, didn’t count.

“Thanks.”  He couldn’t look at Nyx.  The man always intimidated him even though he has been nothing but nice and encouraging to him when he was working out with the other Glaives.  “I’m feeling better.”

“Now, when you feel like it, you need to come down to the firing range.  Pennel is working hard to beat your range shot and is almost there so you need to make sure that you put him in his place.”  Nyx pulled himself up to his full height and stretched his back.  “I got to head out.  I’m done for the day and need a nap.”

“Bye, dork.” Nyx said as he slapped the prince back, nearly sending Noctis off his chair and the prince into a pout. 

Nyx smiled, gave another wave and left the room.

“He’s the dork,” Noctis grumbled as he resettled in the chair and then looked at him.  “We have to wait for Specs.  He’s talking with Audientis about something.”

“Why is he talking with Audientis?” Prompto ask as he settled into one of the chairs beside Noctis. The nap that he had while he was getting the infusion of vitamins made him feel more awake and relaxed.

Noctis shrugged and yawned.  “Probably because he was on his fifth Ebony of the day and he was getting twitchy.   But seriously?  You feeling better?”

Shrugging and looking at his lap.  “Yeah.  Can’t promise I’m not going to have a freak out again, but I don’t feel as,” he had to think on the word that applied, “shaky.”  It was the best that he could come up with.

It was then that Ignis returned.  He had a large folder in his hand and a stern look on his face.  The harsh look melted into a softer one, “Ah, you’re done your treatment.”

“Now we can go for lunch,” Noctis said from his chair. 

“No junk food.  I will cook us a proper meal.  You both have school work that is long over due and to prepare for tomorrow.”  Ignis said as he got right to the point.

“School?”  Prompto didn’t know if he was ready to go back to school.  He let himself sink in his chair as he contemplated if he could do it or not.  How many tests has he missed?  How many assignments?  How will he face the other kids in class?  How will he face his teachers?  How can he explain whey he was gone?

A hand on his shoulder jarred him out of the panic that he was causing himself.  “Prompto?”  He opened his eyes to see Ignis leaning close to him and his green eyes vividly staring into his own.

“Sorry,” he whispered and shook his head.  Noctis was looking at him with a concerned look as well.  He was making them worry again.

“Is the thought of going to school bothering you?” Ignis asked.

“A little.  I mean, what am I going to say?” Prompto said.  “I was off for a week and you know how rumours are with those guys.”  He looked to Noctis who nodded.

“All you have to say is that you were unwell,” Ignis said.  “No details are necessary.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Prompto said.

“It can be.  Tell them you had a bad fever.  It’s not even a lie,” Noctis said.  “And the only one that will be super snoopy is Lawrence and he’s a jerk.”

Prompto snorted but was still worried.  He missed a week of school work and studying and there was only two weeks until the compulsory exams.  “But the exams are so close.”

“You have an 80% average,” Noctis grumbled.  “You’ll do fine.  You have more than enough qualifications for the Crownsguard.”

“Crownsguard?”  Prompto felt the panic rise in him again.  “Why are we talking about Crownsguard?”  He was an omega.  He could never be part of them.

“Now.  Why don’t we take this conversation out of here,” Ignis said and offered his hand to help him rise.  He took his hand and allowed himself to be pulled up.  “Let’s go home and have this conversation there.”

“Whatever,” Noctis said as he unfolded himself from the chair, wrapped his arm around his waist and started to shuffle to the door.  “As long as I can drive.”

And that statement started a whole argument over who was driving.  Eventually, after a fond sigh, Ignis allowed Noctis to drive.  Ignis sat in the back with his arms crossed and his jaw clenched the whole time.

Noctis wasn’t a bad driver as far as Prompto was concerned.  He had heard second hand about Noctis running into a parking barrier with Ignis in a car.  He thought it was funny that Ignis get all tense over the situation.

The next part of the day was Noctis arguing with Ignis about how many vegetables that he put in the stir fry, how lumpy his couch was, and his steady supply of Ebony that he was drinking.  It was comfortable arguing and it made Prompto feel better.

He spent a lot of his time going through his clothes, organizing his room and getting his school stuff ready for Monday.  It felt good to do mindless things like that.  He nearly had another meltdown when he was looking at some of the boxes of pictures that he had.  It was a small off hand comment from Ignis that stopped the meltdown. 

“Once you get more settled, you can hang some of those pictures around the place.  Gladio is always complaining about my lack of décor and that should appease him.”  He went back to working on his computer as he had said that.  Prompto looked around and had never noticed before that the walls were bare.

His parents would look at his pictures, say, ‘that’s nice’, and that would be the last of it.  They never once wanted to put his pictures on the wall, or ask to put it on their phone, or even put his crappy childhood drawings on the fridge.

And Ignis wanted to put his photographs on his wall in his private living space.

“That one of the sunset over the Citadel that you took would be wonderful in the kitchen.”  Ignis had said it and then turned to Noctis to ask him which picture he would like to see.  They argued for ten minutes for which pictures of his that should decorate the apartment.  It nearly made him start to cry again; happy tears.

He got his room to the point that most of his stuff was put away and felt comfortable.  He was going to need another blanket as the one that was on the bed was thinner than what he was used to but that was an easy fix. 

Supper was a delicious soup that Noctis complained about.  They got a couple of hours of studying in before Ignis took Noctis home for the night.

He had that hour to himself where he closed his eyes and took in the whole days activities and made sure that he was okay with everything.

And he found that he was.

One step at a time.

He wrote in the notebook about the steps that he had to take and writing them down seem to get them out of his head.  Next step was to get through his exams and graduate.  Another step was to get prints of some of his pictures.  He wrote down the word Crownsguard with a whole bunch of questions marks behind it and to make sure he talked with Audientis about that.  He needed to explain to Noctis that being an omega made it so that he couldn’t be in such an elite force.  He would stick to photographing landscapes or weddings.  That was a couple of steps away as he had to figure out what he was going to do with his life.

He had to focus on what tomorrow would hold for him.

It was time to focus on exams and get them out of the way.   There was plenty of time to worry about what came after later.  He had three great friends that would help him through it when he needed them.

When Ignis arrived back after dropping off the Prince, he told him to set himself to be ready to go get Noctis at seven in the morning, so they could ensure that they could get there on time.  “I have some frozen tarts in the freezer if you feel like a snack.”

The soft sound of Ignis voice coming through the door as he talked to Gladio was comforting.  He had his own room, food, didn’t have to worry about being quiet, and Ignis wanted to have his pictures on his wall.

It was the best way to end the emotional roller coaster of a day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [albedosoyna](http://albedosoyna.tumblr.com/) is the place I roam the webs.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladio beats up Noctis, but don't worry, it's his job. Gladio tries to comfort Prompto and wishes he knew what to say.

Gladio was on, what he called, the babysitting run.  He was picking up the Prince and Prompto from school.  He leaned against the car with his arms crossed and waited for the two to come out of the school.  He liked the reaction that he got from parents and students alike. The tattoo and being shirtless under his leather jacket was a look that kept people out of his way and that is exactly the image he wanted to give off when he was picking up the prince.

Most of the kids looked like they were living off caffeine, lack of sleep, and stress.  He was so glad that he had private tutors and his exams were much less chaotic.  He had no idea why Noctis wanted to go through this torture of public school.

He spotted the bright spot of yellow hair bouncing beside a shuffling figure with dark hair.  Prompto was literally bouncing back from his near-death experience.  He had been studying hard and keeping Noctis on track as well as going to regular doctor’s appointments.   He was doing good now that his life was on track.

“Aw man.  Do I have training today?” Noctis grumbled as they approached the car. 

“Listen, Princess,” Gladio said, “If you want to put some muscles on your bones you have to do the work.”

Noctis rolled his eyes.  “So, I can prance around without a shirt, like you?”  He waved his hand up and down at Gladio.  “What _is_ that look anyway?  Gay biker dude without a bike?”

He raised and eyebrow at the snarky prince.  He was in that mood then.  “Going for the, ‘going to kick some brat’s ass into the next century’ look.”  He opened the door of the car so that the prince could get in.  “Yo, Prompto.  You getting in?  Do you want to be dropped off at Ig’s or you want to come watch me beat up Noct.”

Prompto had seemed to zone out for a moment and when he called him, he shook his head and looked at him.  “Oh!  Oh!  Yeah.  I was hoping that I could use the gym for a bit.  I haven’t gone for a run for,” his voice trailed off before he continued, “Well, for a while.  I should ease back into it and then watch you kick Noct’s butt.”

That made him smile.  Prompto was getting back into the swing of things.  Noctis protested from inside the car noisily as he slammed the door shut on the two.  He took one look around the school yard and then went to the driver’s seat.  It was an uneventful drive back to the Citadel and training facility.

When they arrived, they all went into the change rooms to get on their gear.  “I’m surprised I haven’t got kicked out of the locker room yet.”  Prompto said as he opened his locker and pulled out a track suit that he kept there.  He did seem genuinely surprised that it was still there.

“Why would we kick you out?” Noctis said as he tossed started to loosen his school tie. 

“Because I haven’t been back here in months and I totally suck,” Prompto said as he threw his back pack into the locker.

“Quit being a dork.”  Noctis said as he pulled out a pair of runners to change into.  “You totally outrun me.  I’ll catch up to you though.”  The prince tied his shoes.  Gladio went about putting his jacket in the closet and pulled out a pair of shorts.  It was way to hot of a day for the heavy leather he was wearing.

“So, my card will still work on the equipment room?” Prompto asked as he sniffed one of the old shirts that he had in there.   He made a pleased face, so it must have been clean.

“It better,” Noctis said, “I need a workout buddy that won’t try to kill me.”

“Get geared up and warm up,” Gladio said ignoring the insult that Noctis just threw at him.  “Or else I will make sure you can’t lift your arms high enough to play your video games.”  He had his back to the prince, but he was certain that he was given the finger from the chuckle that Prompto tried to supress.

The training went well.  Noctis had been improving in the last couple of months.  All the training had finally taken hold and his ability to control his magic was almost startling.  His warping was at the point where he could control where he landed even though he did seem to go into stasis too often for his liking.

It ended with Noctis laying on the floor, gasping for breath, and whimpering about how his back was hurting.  Gladio knew it was time to stop.  Noctis never complained about his back unless it was bothering him.  He was sensitive about the injury and he never liked it being brought up.

That was when he realized that Prompto hadn’t come to watch them.  “Get up,” he kicked the prince shoes.  “Get some water and let’s go cool down in the equipment room and check on blonde.”

Noctis made some heavy groaning sounds and a stream of complaints as he struggled to his feet.  Gladio offered his hand and they walked the short way to the equipment room.  He was glad to see that Noctis original stiff walk loosened in that short while.   He never really wanted to hurt Noctis in any of their training sessions, but he did want to push him to get better.   Noctis wasn’t lazy but he certainly had motivational issues.  Prompto did seem to help him with that.

When they got to the equipment room they saw the mop of blond hair sitting on one of the workout benches and talking Nyx.  Gladio narrowed his eyes at how intense their conversation seemed to be.  Nyx seemed to be always popping out of the shadows lately and it was starting to get on his nerves.

“Oh, hey, look at that!  It looks like the Prince has survived the battle with the behemoth.”  Nyx said with a large grin.   Prompto perked up and smiled at them.  Gladio was glad to see that Prompto was still in good spirits.

“What are you doing here, hero?” Gladio mocked.  He stood beside Prompto and crossed his arms as he looked down at the man.  The man was a competent fighter and well known for being a social butterfly and a gossip at times.

“Getting some cardio.  Standing guard in the hospice is going to ruin my figure and,” he pointed to Prompto, “Sharp Shooter here was stretching in the corner.  I was glad to see that he was recovering well.”

“What did you do to get guard duty at the hospice?” Noctis asked and collapsed beside Prompto on the bench.  His eyes were already drooping.

“Oh, you know.  Wasn’t following orders on the last mission and argued with Drautos again.  Accomplished the mission though, so they can’t get _too_ mad at me.  At least this time, it’s not the gate.  That a horrible job.”  Nyx stood and dramatically stretched.  “Hey, Gladio.  Can I talk to you for a second?”  He stood up from the bench and after patting Prompto on the shoulder and nudging the prince, the hero wrapped his arm around his shoulder and escorted him to the corner with the steppers.

“What’s up, runt?” Gladio asked, pushing his arm off his shoulder as they were out of Prompto and Noctis ear shot.

“Listen, kid,” Nyx said.  “I’m twice your age.  Don’t start that.  I need to ask you about Prompto.”

Gladio snorted, “What do you want to know?”  He set his jaw and waited for him to ask. 

“Is he really okay?  When I came in here he was in spaced out land and I had to snap my fingers in front of his face to get his attention.”

Gladio could only sigh and shake his head.  “He’s been going through a lot.  Still has a way to go.”  He really couldn’t imagine how messed up Prompto must be.  He knew he was very good at hiding it with a quick smile and laugh.  He was doing well, but he still was worried.  Not as worried as Ignis, but still worried. 

“Well,” Nyx rubbed the back of his head and gave a quick look over at the other two.  “Cor has me shadowing,” he hitched his thumb over towards Prompto, “his parents.  They sure don’t act like people that are missing their kid.” 

Gladio raised his eye brows and huffed.  He still had anger towards them that he didn’t know where to put.  “Figures.”

“I’m glad to hear that he has moved out of his parent’s care and into Ignis’ place.”  Nyx ran his hand through his hair.  “Take good care of him, eh.  I don’t know what all happened to him but I’m glad to hear that he’s in good hands.” 

“He is.”  Gladio said and looked over to Prompto.  The two had their phones out and most likely playing a game of King’s Knight. 

“If you need any help from any of in the glaive, we’ll help.  Well, expect for Pennel.  He’s still upset over Prompto’s high score on the range.”  Gladio knew that Nyx meant his offer.

“Being his friend works for now.  What were you talking to him about?”  Gladio was wondering if Cor had Nyx following Prompto too.  He would investigate that later.

“Casual stuff.”  Nyx shrugged.  “How he was feeling, his exams and stuff.  I was wondering if the was going to the try out for the glaive and he just about blanked out on me again, so I changed the subject.  The kid is great with a gun, can run, and he has the bonus that he already has the trust of two of the strongest fighters that protect the prince.”  He casually patted his arm.  “He has a lot of excuses for why he can’t.”  Nyx let out a heavy sigh.  “He seems lost.  I know how he feels being uprooted suddenly.  But the Glaive gave me a hearth and home.”

Gladio knew why Prompto was hesitant.  Ignis had been meaning to have a conversation with him about recruitment but didn’t want to put more pressure on Prompto.  “Thanks for letting me know.  Let me know when the digging is done or if you could slide Ignis a copy of the report.”

“Totally will.”  Nyx said and slapped his shoulder.   “Got to head out before Crowe has my hide.  I promised to bring dinner for the group.”  Nyx gathered his bag and said a hasty goodbye to the prince and Prompto.

He went back to stand beside where Prompto and Noctis was sitting.  “Ready to go?”

“I don’t know if I can walk,” Noctis whined.

“Don’t you dare suggest I carry you.  I’ll drop you off.  Prompto, I need to talk to Ignis, so I’ll take you home too.”  Prompto nodded and stood up, helping Noctis get up. 

“I have my last exam tomorrow, you know.”  Noctis whined.  “If I fail, it’s your fault.”

Shoving his shoulder gently and Noctis dramatically swayed, “You’ll pass.”

The sun had already set by the time they left the parking garage.  They first drove to Noctis’ apartment and he dragged his feet as he went through the door.  He was always so dramatic after a workout.  His skill may have been improving but it had not lessened his dramatic whining and complaining one bit.

“Should I go help him?” Prompto asked as the car door closed.

“He can handle it.  He’s being over dramatic again,” Gladio said.  “Iggy texted me earlier.  He prepped Noctis his dinner and it’s waiting for him.  He made garula sandwiches, so we know Noctis will actually eat it instead of picking at it.  They’ll be enough for us as well.”

After Noctis disappeared behind the door of his secured building, they headed towards Ignis place.  Gladio noted that Prompto sat rather rigidly and was wringing his hands since they left Noctis place.

“You okay?” he asked as they stopped at a traffic light.  “You seem tense.”

Prompto clenched his hands tighter and seemed to hunch down into himself.  “Last test,” he whispered.

“Nervous about your test?” Gladio asked even though he knew that was not the reason.

“Not really.”  He started to take in deep breaths that told him a different story.  The traffic light changed and Gladio quickly drove into a market parking lot and parked.  By the time he was able to pay attention to the blond again, he had his blue eyes and fists squeezed tight and shaking. 

He put a hand on Prompto’s hand causing the smaller man to gasp.  “Breathe,” he said.  “Look at me and breathe.”  The blond seemed to be making efforts to breathing and counting numbers that he could barely hear.  He waited until he got to one and asked him to look at him again.  Prompto opened his watery blue eyes and was able to look at him.  “You’re going to be okay.”

The car was to quiet as Gladio turned off the radio and waited for Prompto to come down from his panic. 

“S-Sorry,” Prompto stammered and unclenched his fists. 

“No need to be sorry.”  Gladio kept hold of his hands despite Prompto trying to pull away.  “What overwhelmed you?”

He lowered his head and stared at his hands.  “It’s not the last test.”  Gladio could sense that there was more and waited for him to get it out.  “It’s what’s after.”

“What’s after?”  Gladio kept his voice low.

“I – I don’t know.”  Prompto took a deep breath and let out a shaky one.   “Gladio.  I don’t know.  I really don’t know.  I don’t know what I’m going to do.  What can I do?  What can a male omega do?”  Prompto let out a sob.  Gladio pulled the smaller man into a hug despite the awkwardness of being in the car and let him sob.  It didn’t last for long before he pulled back from him and scrubbed at his face.  “Sorry.”

“Hey, it’s good to get the emotions out,” Gladio said.  “My emotions always seem to go to anger and I tend to take it out all in the gym.”

Prompto sniffed and gave him a half smile.  “And on Noct?”

“Not as much as I used too,” Gladio said with a smile and was glad to see Prompto lips twitch.   He squeezed Prompto’s hands.  “Do you need more time?”

Prompto wrinkled his nose and shook his head.  “I’m-I’m okay.  Nyx was asking if I was going to join the Glaive.  It was on my list of things to look at but, I was trying not to look that far ahead.  I mean, after tomorrow the school step is done and I have to think about the future.  I have a list of steps, but I don’t know which one to take.”  The smaller man seemed to shrink in his seat.  “But how can I be like you guys with being an omega.”

“You met all the physical demands tests from what I understand,” Gladio said.  “So, yeah.  I totally think you could do it.”

“But I’m an omega!”  Prompto yelled and tried to pull his hands away from him.  Gladio was not about to let go.  “What if I totally spaz out in the field and get all weird?  I won’t ever be as strong as any of you guys.  I can’t get as strong as you guys.”

“No one is stronger than me,” Gladio said and squeezed his hand as he tried to make a joke that was going over as well as brick wall.  “It’s my job to be stronger than everyone else.”

“But what is my job supposed to be?”  Prompto’s voice was low and so sad.

“You’re doing it.  Being Noctis friend.  And if you think you can, you can stand by his side to protect him.  I know that you can.  Ignis knows that you can and most importantly, Noctis knows and wants you at his side.” 

Gladio was hoping that would get a smile or even a laugh but it had the opposite effect of what he intended.  It seemed that he was only good at sticking a foot in his mouth.  Prompto started to cry and hard.  He let go of Prompto’s hands and reached in for an awkward hug.  He was glad that Prompto accepted his hug though.  When they got him home, Ignis would be able to talk to him and not make him feel like shit.  Ignis would have known what to say to get him to stop crying.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he mumbled.  “I’m sorry.”  Prompto tried saying something but Gladio didn’t understand him.  He pulled him away from him and wiped his face like he would do with Iris when she would get upset over something.  “I’m a big dumb oaf and know nothing.   Don’t take anything I say seriously.”

Prompto was about to say something more when there was a strange light that suddenly illuminated the car and a knock on the window of the car.  He turned to see a man in a uniform and looking into the car from the drivers side and another on the passage side of the car.  “Evening gentlemen, can you please step out of the car, sirs?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter...
> 
> No beta, so forgive the whoops. I do correct as I find.
> 
> Also, I do hope you enjoy.
> 
> Eventually there will be less tears. But I am enjoying whump aspect of this story a little too much.


	10. Chapter 10

They were later than he expected.  Ignis had the food ready to go based off the text that Gladio sent saying that he would see him soon.  He ensured that there were extra pickles for Gladio and extra cheese for Prompto’s sandwich. 

He looked at his phone and frowned.  It had been an hour since the text when there was a knock at the door. 

He went to open it and ask both men how they both could lose their keys when he was met by the sight of two uniformed men standing there.  Prompto was shrinking in front of them and Gladio was fuming behind them.

“Evening, sir.  Are you Ignis Scientia?”  The taller of the two officers said and straightened himself up a bit.  He may be tall, but Ignis was still taller.

“Yes?”  He looked to Gladio and hoped for an explanation as to why they were being dropped off by officers.

“Do you know these two gentlemen?”  The officer asked and put a hand on Prompto’s shoulder.

“Why yes, I do.”  He looked to Prompto who was absolutly miserable.  His eyes were red, and he was chewing on his thumb nail. 

“Can you explain their relation to you, please?”  It was more of a command than a question from the small of the two officers.

He decided the best course of action was to be blunt.  These two men gave off the aura that they didn’t like to be proven wrong.  “Prompto is my roommate and Gladio is my boyfriend.”  The two officer’s eyebrows went up and looked at the two men that they were escorting.   “May I ask, why are you escorting my family home?  Was there a car accident?”  Gladio and Prompto didn’t look injured.

“We need to confirm that this guy,” he squeezed Prompto’s shoulder that made him wince. “Was coming to a safe home.”

“Oh?”  Ignis tilted his head.  “And why was that a concern?”

“Because,” the smaller guy pointed to Gladio, “Looked like he was attacking your roommate here.”

Ignis had to cover his mouth to hide his forming smile.  Gladio may look like he would have no issues with using his strength, but they didn’t know him.  He ensured that he was able to speak clearly and asked, “And how was he being assaulted?”

“I was hugging him,” Gladio grumbled and glared at the two men.  Ignis could see that he was angry and embarrassed all rolled into one. 

“We wanted to make sure it wasn’t a domestic situation,” The taller cop said and removed his hand from Prompto’s shoulder.

Prompto ducked his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets.  Gladio looked at the ceiling.  Ignis straightened his features.  “Well, I can assure you that is nothing of the sort between these two.  Now, if we have this all resolved, I have supper waiting for them.”

There was a tense moment as the officers seemed as if they were going to say something else.  The tall one took the lead.  “If I can get you to write a statement for us, sir.”

He cocked his eyebrow and let out a sigh.  “Of course.  Do you wish me to write it on my own paper or do you have a form for me to fill out?”  He still had his vest on and was able to pull out a pen.  “Do you need to have a royal stamp on it as well?”

“Royal stamp?” The small one said looking suddenly nervous.  He looked to the other officer.

“You surely noticed that Gladiolus Amicitia was driving a car with a royal plate.  Did you even ask for either for their identifications?”  He was certain that these two men did not ask for identification.  If they had, they would know who Gladio was and this whole conversation would not be necessary.

“Um,” the small one’s face got red and the tall one’s face went white. 

The taller one breathed heavily through his nose and looked like he was trying to call his bluff.  “Can I see your identification please?”  It was a command.  He wanted to state that this whole situation would not have happened if that was the first question that they asked.  Ignis reached into his pocket vest pocket that still contained his royal identification that was always in his notebook.  He slipped it out of his slot and handed it over.

The changes on the mans’ face as he read his name, rank and who he was and realized that the two people that they had accosted, were not lying about their situation.  There was a shake in his hand as he handed his identification back.

Ignis didn’t bother hiding his smirk of satisfaction.

“Do you two have cards with your badge numbers?  I’m afraid that a statement right this moment would be _lacking_ in details and I would like to send it to you later.”  Ignis asked sternly and enjoying the look of pure horror on their faces as they realized that they were messing with the wrong people.

“Oh!  That would be unnecessary.  We will be on our way.  Goodnight.” The tall officer said, and they quickly took a couple steps back.  Gladio moved to the side to let them escape.  The smaller one followed behind without a word.

“Are you sure you don’t need a statement?  If you give me your card, I will gladly mail it to your superior officer to ensure you can do your paperwork correctly.”  Ignis kept his tone even but he was between amused and angry.

“Really, sir, it’s not necessary at all,” the tall one said and exited into the stair well with a slight stumble and a bow.  Ignis waited a few moments before he turned to where Gladio and Prompto were standing. He looked at Gladio and sternly asked.  “Did you get the car number?”

“Of course,” Gladio said.  “Ignis, they …”

“Let’s get inside first.”  Ignis pushed gently on both of their shoulders and urged them into the apartment.  “In.”

They both went into the apartment with their heads low and shoulders slumped.  Upon closing the door, he looked at them both, crossing his arms.  “I need to know what happened first.” 

He knew that they didn’t know that Gladio was a giant gruff teddy bear at heart.  Gladio wouldn’t hurt anyone that wasn’t threatening the prince despite his appearance of a man that had a short temper.  They didn’t know that Prompto was prone to emotional outbursts due to his recent trauma.

“It was my fault, Ignis,” Prompto said and worried his lip beneath his teeth.  “I had a,” he trailed off and let out a deep sigh, “breakdown and Gladio stopped to make sure that I was okay.”  Prompto looked at his feet.  “This is so embarrassing.”

“There is nothing to be embarrassed about.  Now, are you okay?”  Ignis looked at the smaller man up and down.  His eyes were a little red, so he must have been crying and he had a slight tremor in his hands.

Prompto nodded.  “I’m okay.  Just a little freaked out.  I —,” Prompto cleared his throat.  “I thought maybe that they were going to take me away or something, you know.”  He chewed his lip and looked at this hands that he was clutching tightly to his stomach.

“Wouldn’t let that happen,” Gladio grumbled as he sat down to remove his boots.  “Damn douche nozzles.  They wouldn’t listen to a thing I said.  I was this close to loosing my temper.”  Gladio held two of his fingers an inch apart.  Ignis could tell by the way he was tensing and untensing his shoulders that Gladio was still trying to control his anger over the situation.  He threw one of his boots at the shoe rack and it made a clattering noise and knocked over some of his shoes.  Gladio would fix it when his temper cooled.

“We will deal with them in the morning.  Right now.  I want you both to sit and eat dinner.  I may have to heat it up again.”  Ignis motioned to the table where the plates were sitting.  He had his meal there as well.  He wanted to dine with them even if it was later than he would have liked.

“I don’t think I’m all that hungry,” Prompto mumbled as he shuffled to the table.

“At least have a tea to settle your nerves,” Ignis gently guided him to the table.  “I have a lovely kava tea that I’m told is wonderful for nervous energy.”

“Isn’t that the tea Iris got you for your last birthday?” Gladio said as he walked to his normal spot at the table. 

Ignis smirked at Gladio.  “I believe so.  It’s tasty, but I do prefer coffee.”

Prompto settled in the chair and looked at the sandwich in front of him.  Gladio grumbled under his breath further insults and grabbed a pickle off his plate.  Ignis started the kettle to make the tea.

“So, tell me why they thought you were hurting Prompto?” Ignis asked as he ran his hands over the Gladio’s shoulders.  He was still wearing his jacket, but it was hard not to notice the lack of shirt.

Gladio heaved a heavy sigh.  “I was a big dumb oaf and said something to upset Prompto and made him cry.  I was trying to comfort him when those morons thought I was hurting him.”

“It was all my fault!”  Prompto said and rubbed his eyes.  “If I hadn’t started to panic, he wouldn’t have pulled over.”

“It wasn’t your fault those dolts wouldn’t listen to us or even be smart enough to run our ID.”  Gladio growled and ate another pickle with a vicious bite. “They made him drive over here in the cop car, Ignis.  I had that dipshit sitting with me.  I wanted to break every traffic rule for their dumbassery.  They wouldn’t even let me call you.”  Ignis put a hand on Gladio’s shoulder and could feel him vibrating with anger.

“The guy kept asking me if Gladio hit or yelled at me and all that and he wouldn’t listen to me either.  I mean, the worst Gladio did to me was throw me in the pool after Noctis once.”  Prompto said as he looked at his sandwich.  “And I had to reapply the sunscreen and missed that spot on my neck and I burnt so bad.”  He absently ran his hand over his neck as he spoke.

Ignis recognized the signs of disassociation but needed him to get back on the discussion before he could do so.  “What did Gladio say to upset you?”  Ignis asked.

“What?”  Prompto asked.

“What did Gladio say to upset you?”  Ignis repeated. 

Gladio seemed to shrink in his chair and his brow furrowed with concern.

“Gladio didn’t say anything to upset me.”  Prompto sounded confused.

“I didn’t?  They why were you crying?”  Gladio talked with his hands when he was emotional, and this was no exception.  He threw his hands in front of him and leaned forward in his chair.

Prompto blinked a few times and looked at them both.  His blue eyes were wide before he turned his eyes to his sandwich again.  “Well, Nyx was saying that he was looking forward to seeing me on the range.  I said I wasn’t that good, but he was going on about how I was a natural shot and stuff.  I thought he was just talking me up. You know.  Because I didn’t think I was that good.  But then you said the same thing so you both couldn’t be talking me up.  And then you said that I didn’t need to be strong like you but just strong enough to protect Noctis.”  He took a deep breath as he stopped his rambling.  “And he said that I was strong enough to do that.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, you did.” Prompto said.  “You meant it, right?”

“Yeah, I meant it,” Gladio said.  “I mean, you’re still a dork, but with some more training, I’m sure you would be an excellent addition to the Glaive.”

Ignis gasped and slapped the back of Gladio’s head.  “Gladiolus Amicitia. Prompto just gave a heart felt talk and you call him a dork!”

“He’s friends with Noctis! They’re both dorks!”  Gladio ducked his head and twisted out of Ignis range.  Ignis glared at him and was about to give him a lecture on manners but stopped when he heard Prompto giggling.

“It’s okay, Ignis,” Prompto said with a large smile.  “I know what he means.” 

Ignis felt a headache coming on as he pushed the glasses up his nose and rubbed the bridge of his nose.   “You’re all going to be the death of me.”  The kettle started to announce that it was done boiling.  “Eat up and we can have a discussion about this after our meal.”

Prompto nodded and Gladio stuffed half the sandwich into his mouth in a manner that made Ignis roll his eyes. 

The rest of the evening went smooth, restful, and domestic.  Prompto ate half the sandwich before he said he would save it for later and wrapped it for the fridge.  Gladio was eyeing it up, but Ignis offered him up some fruit salad and made him wash the dishes while he worked on his reports and Prompto pulled out his study notes for the test that he had tomorrow.

Gladio had taken off his jacket, made himself some popcorn and was watching Blitzball on the TV while they finished up, but Ignis could tell that he wasn’t really watching.  “I’m still annoyed at those stupid cops,” Gladio grumbled from the couch. 

Ignis sighed and shook his head, not bothering to look up from the schedule he was making to ensure it was organized for Noctis, Prompto, and himself.  “Well, if you didn’t dress like a gay biker without a bike when you pick up a boy that is dressed in a school uniform, they may have over looked you.”

Prompto dropped his pen, let out a large bark of a laugh, and grabbed for his phone.

“Don’t!”  Gladio yelled and pointed to Prompto who was ignoring him completely.

“Oh.  Mee.  Gee.”  He said as he was frantically typing.  “Wait until I tell Noct!”

“I take back everything nice I ever said about you!”  Gladio yelled and growled at him but didn’t move from the couch.  “And you.  Making excuses for those incompetent cops!”

“No.  There’s no excuses for the behaviour of those officers but I do want to point out that your casual attire is rather attention getting.  I know it grabs my eye.”  Ignis looked over to Gladio and did nothing to hide how he admired the deep lines of his stomach and chest.

“For your eyes only, babe.”  Gladio said and flexed his pecks.

“I’m afraid that they you do display your pecks for the world, so I hardly feel special in that regards.” Ignis countered.

“Well, I worked hard on these muscles!” Gladio countered and smirked at him, flexing his arms to demonstrate his hard work.  “But you’re only allowed to touch.”

“And I appreciate every moment you spend in the training center,” Ignis said and laughed at the display Gladio was putting on with ensuring that he could see every muscle twitching with precise control. 

Prompto rolled his eyes as his phone sent a series of blips that was Noctis notification tone.  Ignis took this moment to close his lap top and move to the couch beside Gladio who still look annoyed.  They both watched Prompto’s face go through an array of emotions as he texted with Noctis for a few moments before he twined his hands in Gladio’s. The large man hummed and squeezed his hand gently in return.  He turned his amber eyes over to him.  “Thanks for taking care of those cops earlier.  A few words from you and suddenly they were listening. They were really annoying, and they assumed I was a muscle head and Prompto was too scared to speak up.”

“There was so many ways they could have cleared up the situation efficiently, but they decided only to see what was on the surface instead of understanding the deeper side of you.”  Ignis leaned forward and took the opportunity to kiss Gladio.  He only meant for it to be a quick peck on the lips, after all Prompto was still sitting at the table.  But he found himself getting drunk on his kiss.  Ignis eyes slide closed and allowed himself being dragged deeper into Gladio.  One of his hands was tugging at his hair and the other on his side, slipping under his shirt.

“Well.”

Prompto’s voice brought him out of his ardour.  He pulled out of the kiss quickly and Gladio inched a little away from him with a heavy blush on his cheeks.  He could feel his own burning as well.  Prompto’s face looked just as red.  “I’m going to have a shower and hit the sack.  Last exam and all.”  He gave a little wave and all but dashed to his room and closed the door.

Ignis adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat and in a lower voice than was necessary and asked, “I do hope you are staying the night.”  He allowed his hand to trace along his chest and his eyes to admire the view.

“No where else I would rather be.”

 

* * *

 

High school was official over.  Noctis sat in the car and looked at the school.  He wished Prompto was here with him so that he wouldn’t feel the case of the dreads creeping across his skin.  Most of the other students were going to parties, fancy dinners, and planning on getting drunk.

He couldn’t do that.  His father wanted him to have a normal life but there were limits to that and going to a bush party on the outskirts of Insomnia was one of them.  Not that he really wanted to go.  He would rather go fishing and be out of the city for an hour or two.  Fishing always calmed his nerves and made him feel calmer.

But he was going to the Citadel and talk about stuff with the court that he didn’t want to deal with.  “Why did Prompto go to the doctors again?  I thought he was almost done those vitamin treatments.”

“He had an appointment with Dr. Audientis.”  Ignis said as he took a turn into the parking garage.  The rock in the pit of his stomach grew heavier as they moved out of the bright sunshine and into the dimly lit concrete parkade.  “Gladio will be fetching him and ensuring he gets home safely”

“Hopefully fully dressed.” Noctis grumbled.

“I think he learned his lesson,” Ignis said.  Noctis could hear the amusement in his advisor voice.  Noctis doubted that.  He would be back to taking off his shirt in a couple of days, he was sure.   “We’re here, highness.”

“Yeah.”  Noctis really didn’t want to get out of the car.  He loved his father, but this was going to be a formal affair to work out what positions he would be monitoring as the future king and getting on step closer to becoming the One True King.

The door of the car opened and Ignis stood there waiting for him to get out.  The weight of what this day meant kept him in his seat.   He couldn’t get the strength to move his feet.  “Highness?”  He looked up at Ignis who was offering a gloved hand and looking concerned.

“Yeah, can I like, listen to some music before I go up.” Noctis asked.

“Of course,” Ignis said.  “Move over.”  It took Noctis a moment to realize that Ignis wanted to sit beside him in the back seat of the car.  He slid over a bit to allow Ignis to slide in beside him.  “What music do you want to listen too?”

He shrugged.  “Anything.”  Noctis wasn’t sure what he wanted to listen too.  He pulled out his phone and looked at the songs that were there.  Prompto would have known what to listen too.   Ignis took the phone from his hands and found a song.  It wasn’t a bad choice, but he wasn’t sure it was what he wanted.  “Fuck,” he whispered under his breath.  “Do we have to do this today?”

“Afraid so,” Ignis said and turned the volume down on the phone.  “Just remember.  I will be at your side through whatever has to be done.”

That was the one thing that he could always count on.  Ignis was always someone he could count on, even when he was in the darkest of moods.  He put up with him not wanting to get out of bed or be able to clean up after himself.  “Thanks, Ignis.”

“Any time,” Ignis said.  “Tell me when your ready.”

Noctis nodded.  He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.  Having Ignis sitting beside him was comforting and helped the heavy feeling dissipate to a level that he could tolerate.   Opening his eyes, he was greeted by Ignis stead fact presence.  “Okay.  I’m ready to go now.”

Ignis didn’t complain ever when he had these moods.  He silently would work through it with him and they would be able to move forward from there.  And he was doing the same thing for Prompto now. 

They slipped out of the car and Ignis fell into step beside him.   Always steady at his side, willing to always listen to him, even when he didn’t say anything.  They went the elevator and pressed the button to the royal offices.  The stupid elevator music was the only sound around them.  He always hated the music that they picked.  It was always soft and sad sounding classical music.  One of the first things he was going to do as king, was making elevator music illegal.

He leaned against the wall and looked up at Ignis.  “I don’t say thanks to you enough, Ignis.  Thanks.”

“It’s never a problem,” Ignis said and smiled at him.  “You will do fine.”

Noctis always felt better when Ignis said that even when he did not feel like he would be able to fill his fathers, or the expectations of the Astral’s.

The door opened, and they walked onto the floor where the voices became hushed and heads bowed as he walked towards his father chambers.   He hated it.  He had done nothing to deserve the respect that they were offering.  Ignis kept his pace as they walked by his father’s secretary who smiled at him and told them to go right in.

The room was a nice room though.  When he was younger, he would spend time colouring on his father’s desk while he talked with people on the chairs placed around a table.  There still was the recliner that his father brought in when he was recovering from his injury after they returned from Tenebrae.  He spent most of his time sleeping there and remembered often waking up with his father looking at him from his desk with a deeply concerned look on his face.  Currently, his father’s cape was resting on it.

“Noctis!” His father stood from the chair around the table with a large grin.  Clarus remained seated and gave him a warm smile.  “Lunch will be brought up shortly.”

“Hey, dad,” he said, and he was enveloped in a hug.  His dad always gave the best hugs.  They were always welcoming, and his dad was always warm, except for his right hand.  He could feel the energy from the ring.  Sometimes, it felt cold, others it was hot; today was cold and it made him shiver.  It made him dread the thought that he would have to wear that ring one day and bear the burden of the crystal.  “It’s only been a week, dad.”

“More like a week and a half,” his dad said.  His dad ran his hands through his hair and Noctis pulled back.  “Dad.”

“You need a hair cut.”

“Its fine.”  Noctis arranged his hair back to where it was supposed to be.

“Quit mothering the boy, Regis,” Clarus said from his seat.  “Now, we have a lot to discuss, so if we could get started.”

“Such a kill-joy.”

Noctis noticed that his father was favoring his knee quite a bit.  He wasn’t walking with his cane and the limp was noticeable as he went back to the table and took his chair.  Ignis had already taken a seat beside Regis and was ready to get ready to go through the plan.  The heaviness returned to his feet and it was hard to make it to the chair where he was expected to sit.  He wanted to head to the recliner in the corner where he could curl up and sleep. 

But he was considered an adult now and couldn’t run and hide under blankets, in a chair, at the arcade, or in an apartment downtown.  The only place he wanted to be was on the couch, eating popcorn, playing a stupid video game with Prompto at his side.

“Son?”

“Hmmm.”  Noctis realized he was standing and staring at nothing.  “Sorry.”  He willed his feet to move as he went into a chair beside his father.  The weight lessened with each step.

“You needn’t worry, highness,” Ignis said and put a comforting hand on his knee and in his most calming voice.  “We are all here to guide you.”  He nodded at his chamberlain and then turned to his dad.  The remnants of the heaviness lifted at the though of Ignis, the smile from his father and the roll of the eyes from the current shield of the crown put him at ease.

“Okay.  Let’s get this started.” Clarus clicked on a tab on the tablet in front of them and started to talk about the ministries they wanted him to start taking control over. 

Three cans of Ebony later for Ignis and a headache was brewing behind his eyes, they took a break.  He really wanted to crawl into the chair in the corner and have a nap.   “I know it is a lot son, but it will all work out in the end.”  Noctis nodded and stood up from his chair.  He stretched his back and it made an awful cracking sound.  Gladio was going to pay for pushing him so hard at the training.  He needed a Hi-potion to get moving in the morning.  He didn’t tell Ignis that he was hurting because he didn’t want him to worry with all that he was doing with Prompto.

Ignis was already on the warpath when it came to the incompetent cops that thought that Gladio was beating up on Prompto.  He didn’t know the whole story, but he knew that there was a whole bunch of terse phone calls that Ignis had made this morning.

“I heard that Prompto and Gladio had an adventure yesterday,” Clarus said to Ignis.  “Have you already called the civilian division?”

“Oh, I had a wonderful discussion with them about the basic protocols for when they pull someone over.  Gladio and Prompto are lucky.  If these gentlemen had pulled over civilians, who knows what could have happened.  I have arranged for audits and review of body camera footage.”  Ignis tone went serious and cold.  “The gentlemen I talked to was initially uncooperative, but he eventually saw my point of view.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t heard of this adventure.”  Regis asked as he leaned back in his chair and stretched out his leg.  His dad seemed uncomfortable and almost asked him if he wanted to move to a different chair but stretching it out seemed to relieve whatever the pain he was in.

“Gladio was escorting Prompto home and was pulled over by some uncooperative officers that didn’t understand basic protocol or how to run a licence plate.”  Ignis explained.  “They thought that Gladio was abusing Prompto.”

His dad chuckled at that statement. “That’s outrageous!”

“It would help if wore a shirt,” Noctis grumbled and was promptly ignored by everyone in the room.

“Agreed.  Prompto didn’t want me to follow up with police or be a bother.”  Ignis said.  “He fretted about it during breakfast and took a while to explain why were taking the actions we were.”

Clarus hummed approvingly.  “It’s good to hear that he is thriving now that he is living with you.”

Ignis nodded, “He is recovering well, and it is nice to have a roommate that doesn’t complain about waking up early in the morning.”

Noctis crossed his arms and glared at Ignis.  So, he wasn’t a morning person and liked his sleep.  He was about to point out Ignis’ caffeine addiction and how he should at least pretend to sleep from time to time.

 “And why has Prompto moved in with you, Ignis?” Regis asked at looked between Ignis and Clarus for an answer.

“Oh,” Clarus said and Ignis sat impossibly straighter.  His dad did the thing where he tilted his head and waited for an answer to his question.  He hated it when he did that.

“Well, Prompto’s parents are dick wads,” Noctis summarized and sat back down beside Ignis.  He could hear Ignis gasp at his words.  Clarus eye brows rose nearly into his hair line.  “What? He was sick because his parents were jerks and weren’t home enough.  Ignis had to take him to the hospital so he moved in with Ignis so that he wouldn’t die.”

The room was silent.  “Noctis,” Ignis hissed under his breath.

“It summarizes the situation.”  Noctis crossed his arms and glared back at Ignis. 

“He was ill?”  His father asked and tilted his head the other way.

“Well, yeah.”  Noctis looked down at his hands.  He hated lying to his father, but he didn’t really want to tell him that his best friend was heat sick.  That was not something you told other people.  “He’s doing good now though.  He’s all moved in and everything over at Ignis’ place and now that schools done, he can start training with the Glaive.”

“Noctis.  We don’t know even if that is what he wants?”  Ignis had turned in his chair and was glaring right at him.  He was starting to smell like caramel.

“I think it’s what he wants.”  Noctis really wasn’t sure if that is what he wanted but he hoped he would so that his best friend could always be at his side.  With royal duties taking over his life, he didn’t have many people around that were really his friend. “But whatever.  He’s good and safe now.”

“Son, you’re not telling me something.”  Regis said.  “What happened to your friend?”

This was not something he could just blurt out and tell his dad that his best friend was sick because he had parents that were hiding that he was an omega with dangerous pills that nearly killed him.

“Regis.  We’re investigating his parents and when we have the results, we will be able to tell you the whole story.”  Clarus interrupted.

“Oh, now,” Regis said and leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.  “And how and why is there an investigation going on, Clarus?”  He knew that look his father was giving.  It was the look that he gave when he was in council and expected answers instead of excuses.

Ignis was glaring at Clarus.

The Shield was not phased by the accusing looks that he was getting.  He let out a weary sigh.  “There was no need for the young man to be ill and there is concerns about his parents neglecting him.  We are still investigating the instance.”

“Neglect?”  Regis rubbed his beard and he closed his eyes.  “That boy is a ball of sunshine and he was neglected?”   His father gaze turned to Clarus.

“He was very adept at hiding his situation from everyone.”  Ignis looked uncomfortable and kept adjusting his glasses.  Noctis put a hand on his Ignis’.  Did he feel guilty for not noticing sooner?  Noctis knew he did and still was trying to figure out how to make it up to Prompto.  That would be just like Ignis to take on the blame of something that wasn’t his fault.  “Once discovered, we removed him from it and ensured that he has the best medical care.  I was _not_ aware that there was an investigation being conducted.”  Ignis made sure to look at Clarus with that statement.

“I had a conversation with my son.”  Ignis back became impossibly straighter and his scent increased.  Noctis squeezed his hand tighter.  “Now, don’t get upset.  I have a way of making him talk.”  Clarus tented his fingers and pressed them to his lips.  “I was just as distressed to hear what had befallen Prompto by the hands of people that were supposed to care for him.  Especially when he is so close to the crown.”  Noctis hated it when they referred to him as the crown.  “There was something that must have been wrong in the first background check for us to have overlooked something so grievous.” 

Noctis sighed.  “Listen.  Prompto is my best friend, dad.  He was hiding how miserable he was because he already felt like he was burden and didn’t want to burden us.  But now, we are going to make sure that he matches his outer façade.  There isn’t a threat to the _crown_ ,” Noctis couldn’t help but cringe at the word, “And I would be honoured if he chose to join the Crownsguard so that I can have those that I trust explicitly at my side.”

All their eyes were on him and it made him uncomfortable.  Noctis let go of Ignis hand and squirmed in his chair.  He hated how they were looking at him.

“Well said, highness,” Ignis said and patted his shoulder.  He was even smiling at him.  Noctis felt his face start to burn at the praise. 

“Agreed.  I will trust you all to ensure that my son and Prompto are in good hands,” Regis said and clapped his hands.  “Now, I think we are done with this conversation for the day.”  He slowly stood, leaning heavily on his cane.  Clarus stood quickly and helped him rise from the chair.   His dad waved him off, but Clarus followed him with his trademark frown.  He went to the bookshelf where Noctis knew that there was an expertly hidden wet bar.  “I think we can all use a drink that has a little bit more of a kick than caffeine.”

Noctis rolled his eyes and looked back to Ignis who finally looked like he was relaxing a bit and his scent was no longer noticeable. 

“Prompto would be glad to hear you say that.”  Ignis adjusted his glasses again.  “You should make sure that you do.  I think it will help him make the decision on his next direction.”

Noctis nodded and refrained from saying more.  He knew the reason that Prompto was not already enrolled was because he was afraid that being an omega would not make him worthy to stand at his side. 

Before he found out that Prompto was an omega, they had talked for hours about how awesome paid to goof around with him as one of his guards.  They hadn’t really talked about that for six months.  He just had to figure out a way to word it so that he didn’t sound like an idiot pushing what he wanted on his friend.

A drink was placed in front of him and Clarus began to talk about what Iris was doing with all the clothes that she had gained from Ignis.  He even pulled his phone out to show some of the outfit that she was modeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompto is in such good hands!
> 
> But what will his next step be? Glaive? Photography? More schooling?


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto makes a decision.  
> It gets domestic all up in here.

So much had changed and Prompto was glad that it had.  He didn’t have another panic attack like the one that he had with Gladio.  He still had regular doctors’ appointments with Doctor Audientis but he no longer needed the vitamin infusions and he felt … good.  He didn’t realize how awful he felt before.

He had energy and he had a future.  A future he still had to decide on what he was going to do with, but he had options.

He had gone back to work at the Sushi Spot.  He was so grateful that the owner welcomed him back with open arms.  He got enough shifts to work 40 hours a week.  They even gave him fifty cents an hour raise and closing responsibilities.

He ran with Gladio at least three times a week.  More if he was able to stay over with Ignis.  Gladio had a routine when he stayed over.  He would jog with him for about a half an hour, stop at the Mocha King, get Ignis a extra-large coffee with a shot of caramel. 

Ignis would have breakfast ready for them, which was always delicious, take the coffee from Gladio

’s hand gives him a kiss on the cheek and take his seat at the table.  Ignis didn’t join in the conversation until he was halfway done the coffee. 

For a man that was always up early, he was not a morning person.

He also spent a lot of time with Noctis.   When the prince wasn’t spending time with his father.  Noctis seemed to be having a hard time with adjusting to his new role but he would always smile and brush it off when he spent time with him.  Prompto always tried to be cheerful around him and it seemed to help him relax.

That time was also used to motivate Noctis to work out.  The bonus of that was that they would spend a time at the shooting range.  He was shocked to see that his target was still hanging on the wall as the record, and it made him feel warm.  When they were there, people knew him and would ask him to try to beat his record.   He hadn’t tried yet, but he said he would when Pennel was at the range. 

But he was in limbo and he had to decide on a direction.

He was sprawled out on the couch and staring at the ceiling as he contemplated his two options.

One was to continue to work at the Sushi Spot and do photography work on the side until he could qualify for scholarships or get enough money go to school.  Maybe even save up so that he could start his own photography business. 

Ignis had said that he could stay with him if he needed too and that it was nice having someone else in his home.  He also gushed over the pictures that now decorated his place.  So, did Gladio and he had to make sure that he got a few for Noctis who had pouted silently until there were a few framed pictures in his own living room.

There were even some of his pictures in the Sushi Spot as the manager was thrilled to use his photographs of his store and other sights of Insomnia to liven up the dining room.  It was amazing to see his photography and edits hanging on the walls.

The other choice was to train to be a member of the Glaive and protect Noctis.  He was still very unsure if he could do that. 

He was assured by everyone, especially Ignis, that knew that being an omega was not a hinderance in how he could protect the future king or be his friend at the same time, but he was still unsure.

He had the most difficult conversation he ever had with Doctor Audientis the day before.

“So, what happens when Glaive go into heat or rut in the battle field.”  He couldn’t look at the doctor when he asked the question. 

It was a question that he couldn’t ask his friends.  How do ask someone how they handle their ruts? That was not something you casually talked about even though he was certain that they would. 

He was not ready to know that yet. 

There still was the question on how he would react to his next moment of hormone induced insanity but that was a least a month away.  That is, ir he wasn’t completely screwed up from taking those pills for years.

“Well, that depends on what arrangements that the person has.  Some people prefer to take care of that on their own issues.  Others, form packs or are lucky enough to have their partners with them.”

How could he talk about it so easily?

Prompto had spent hours reading online on forums.  He didn’t dare post anything, but he read everything he could to try to figure out what other people do.

He was used to hiding in his room and not coming out for a couple of days.   Usually it was only a couple hours at a time where he would look at porn and use his toy to satisfy himself.  He had made sure that he had enough snacks and drinks so that he wouldn’t have to leave and have his parents complain about how bad he smelled.  Not exactly what normal people went through.

Packs had multiple definitions.  Some defined packs as a group that you ran with and some described packs as orgy’s.

“How does one define a pack?”  Prompto asked as he continued to stare at his lap.

“It’s different for different people.”  Audientis said.  “For the Glaive, they are a group of people that they trust in battle and in in private.  They may not be officially lovers, but they trust each other to help a them when they are not with the ones that they love or their mates.”

**“** The critical part is communicating the boundaries before hand.”  There was some shuffling of paper that made Prompto look up.  He had closed the folder that he always had in front of him.  “With both your pack members and your mates.”

“Sounds complicated.”  Prompto looked back down at his hands. 

“I can be but most of the bumps are worked out within the first couple of months if it works or not, but most people work out what they need to.  I have helped with counselling couples and packs with working out what needed to be done.  For the members of the Glaive, it is something that is decided before they go out on a mission.”

“They talk about it.  Just, like, talk?”  Prompto was shocked that it was something was so open. 

“Yes.  They talk and make an agreement before the mission starts.  It’s critical as when you are in the thick of a battle, emotions, hormones, and adrenaline make it hard to think about those situations clearly.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“So that would happen if I join?”

“Of course.”  Doctor Audientis smiled brightly.  “Have you come to a decision about what you are going to do?”

Prompto nodded.  “I think so.”  He knew that he didn’t sound all that convincing.  He was sort of sure, but there was still doubted that he would be good enough to stand by Noctis side.

And one other concern.  “But what if no one would, you know, want to help me.”  He was scrawny, had a bunch of stretch marks, had an anxiety disorder and was broke as hell.  He didn’t have anything to offer anyone else.

“Oh, Prompto,” the doctor said, “You have a lot to offer someone and from what I hear from the nurses, they think that you’re adorable.”

He gawked at the doctor who cleared his throat and his cheeks seemed pink.  Doctor Audientis had answered a few more questions and clarified a few points before he left the appointment.

Now he was starting and the ceiling and wondering if that was what he wanted to do.

Sushi, photography, or Noctis bodyguard.

They each had their points and the Glaive had the most positives.

The biggest positive was that he would get to stay by Noctis.  He would get more money and they would pay him for the time that he was training.  He could lower his hours at the Sushi Spot and still make enough to pay Ignis back for his kindness, grocery bills, gas for the car, and to pay some of the utilities. 

But if he failed …

… how we would face everyone or anyone?  What if his parents were right and he was so broken that he couldn’t be useful?

“Earth to Prompto?”  He blinked as he looked up to see Gladio waving a hand in front of his face and shaking his head at him. 

“Oh, hey,” he said.  “You were saying something?”  He wasn’t even aware that they had arrived. When he had got home, Ignis had said he would be a couple hours.  He had brought home enough sushi for all of them for supper and put it in the fridge for when he arrived.  He had planned on cleaning up a bit, but he had plopped down on the couch and got lost in his own head.

“We just got in.  I heard you brought sushi back.  Want to join us or are you done spacing out on the couch?”  Gladio hooked his thumb towards the kitchen.

“I found some wonderful wasabi soy sauce to have with it,” Ignis said as he was fussing around the table.  There was the sound of plastic containers opening and the clinking of plates.  Ignis always insisted on eating proper plate.  Prompto didn’t see the point of doing extra dishes but he wasn’t going to argue with the man did most of the cooking and dishes.

“I’m good.  I made sure I got extra Blue Fin Nigiri for you since you decimated it the last time I brought it home.”  Prompto said as he went to help Ignis unpack the food.

“Can you blame me?  Stuff is like heaven,” Gladio said and grabbed a couple of pieces and stuffed them in his face.  He grinned widely around the food at them.

“Barbarian,” Ignis complained lovingly as he rolled his eyes.

Gladio mumbled something that he couldn’t make out due to his mouth and went to grab the chopsticks and napkins.  The rest of the night was relaxing as they ate, talked about their respective jobs, Noctis, Iris new dance recital and her amazing her outfits before deciding to watch a movie.  Prompto took the chair that he would drape himself over with his phone.  Ignis normally pulled out his lap top but he didn’t tonight. 

It was a sight to see Ignis relaxed.  He was leaning against Gladio’s side as the movie started and only last about twenty minutes before he was out cold.  Gladio man handled Ignis so that he was under a blanket and curled neatly against him.  They were an adorable couple and seeing their softer side of the two men that had to be so hard for the rest of the world was a treat.

It was something that he would like to have.

He took a picture of them cuddled like that and sent it to Noctis.

**:Prompto (9:20 PM):** <img:Ig and Glad being cute.png>

**:Noct (9:30 PM):** What the hell?  ( ☉_☉)

**:Noct (9:33 PM):** They look relaxed. 

**:Prompto (9:34 PM):**   Yeah.  I’m still shocked at how relaxed Ignis can be.  Dude still needs to sleep more.

**:Noct (9:35 PM):** Are you going to come over tomorrow?  The new DLC is available for Creed.  Iggy has already agreed to let me order pizza in.  You working?

**:Prompto (9:37 PM):** I’m off.  Can’t wait.  Looking forward to it!

He was and Noctis was being so formal in his texts he was sure that he was stressing out.   “Gonna hit the sack,” he said and Gladio looked at him with sleepy eyes.  “Maybe you should get Iggy to bed before he gets a crick in his neck.”  He stood up from his chair and stretched.  His phone beeped again.

“Jog in the morning?”  Gladio asked as he gently shook Ignis shoulder.

“You bet.”  Prompto wished he could have taken another picture of how Ignis dozily followed Gladio guidance to his bedroom but he felt like that would have been to intrusive.  Ignis wished him a good night as he shuffled along.

**:Noctis (9:43 PM):** Bed time.  ⌈▓͟⌉ꆟ) ꍞ  See you tomorrow.

Prompto smiled at the text as he got ready for bed. 

He was looking forward to seeing Noctis tomorrow even if it was only one day that he hadn’t seen him.  Yesterday had been a full morning at work and the appointment where he talked with Doctor Audientis, a good workout with Ignis in the gym before heading home.  Today he normally would have gone to see Noctis but he had a dinner planned with his father.

He was half way through brushing his teeth when he made decision.

It was like a switch that clicked in his head and he smiled through the toothpaste.  The tension knot that he hadn’t even known was there, loosened.

Finishing up with scrubbing his face and throwing on a pair of boxers, he crawled into his bed.  He plugged in his phone and scrolled mindlessly through Warker for a bit before easily falling asleep.

He had the best sleep that he had in a long time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this fluff? A bit.
> 
> Prompto is doing so well now... it would be horrible if the writer decided to add more whump.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis has a bad day with dealing with members of the council.  
> Prompto concretes his decision and there some cuddles.

Noctis was tired.

He wanted to stay in bed but knew that wasn’t an option.  Ignis was already in the other room, preparing him breakfast and he knew at any moment, he would tell him it was time to rise and get ready for the day.

He wanted to stay in bed, close the curtains, and sleep.

He pulled himself up with a heavy groan.  He rubbed his eyes and tried to get them to focus.  He had another day where he had to spend it with his father, Clarus and some stupid council dude that was going to look down his nose at him.

Being royalty was not as fun as they made it out to be in the movies.

Moving from sitting to standing, he took a deep breath, he shuffled to the bathroom to take care of his morning routine and have a shower before he even saw Ignis.  He didn’t really wash himself but more stood under the hot water with his eyes closed until Ignis voice told him that breakfast was ready.

He shut off the water and stood there until he was uncomfortably cold.  He knew he was slow at getting dried and dressed in his usual casual clothes.  He would most likely have to put on robes that his dad had made up for him to make him look official.

They were heavy, starchy and totally unnecessary, but he wore them, because that was what was expected of a prince.

“I was worried,” Ignis said as he finally exited his room.  “Please eat.  I made your favorite breakfast.”  Ignis looked well rested and was even smiling as he went about tidying his kitchen and living room.  He sat down at the table and indeed saw his favorite breakfast, besides cold pizza.  It was a simple breakfast, but he always enjoyed salmon and lox.  He would even eat the bit of red onion that Ignis always dressed it up with.

As he ate, Ignis talked about his schedule for the day which made him want to sink under the table.  Until he mentioned that he already had the pizza ready for order for him tonight and if there was anything else he needed to text him to let him know so he could have it for him.

“Beer?” he asked hopefully.

“The type that Gladio drinks or do you wish another brand?” Ignis was non-pulsed by his ask.  He didn’t like him drinking too much but saw no need for him to abstain completely.  Plus, he had learned his lesson on his eighteenth birthday where Gladio had got him shots. 

Never again.

“The type Gladio drinks is fine.”  He smiled at Ignis as he taped the item into his phone so that he would purchase it later.

“Excellent.  If you’re done, we should get going.  We don’t want to be tardy.”  Ignis said with his regular efficiency. 

Following Ignis down to the car, which he still wouldn’t let him drive, and he went to the Citadel.  He was left there with his father, had to put on the horrible heavy, warm robes, and deal with idiots that didn’t seem to understand that what they were talking about dealt with people.

Lunch was nice though.  He as glad that his dad always ate lunch in private and he would join him.  They would always eat something that he liked, and his dad would talk to him about his video games, even though he didn’t really understand them, fishing, even though he could tell a grouper from a carp.  Where they really connected was when they talked about weapons.  He did admire his dad’s sword and they would talk about what he wanted in a blade.   It was a calming moment in the sea of bureaucracy.

“When was the last time you went fishing?”  Regis asked as they pushed their empty plates away from them.  They had an excellent fried carp, but it would have tasted better if he had caught it and Ignis had cooked it.

“Two months,” Noctis groaned.  Exams and Prompto had taken away the time that he normally would have gone. 

“You will have to get Ignis to schedule you.  I’ve never eaten a fish you caught, and I would enjoy that treat.” 

He smiled at his dad.  “We will have to go one day to the ponds and Ignis can cook up the Barramundi.  He makes an excellent filet with fried potatoes.”

The moment was quickly gone as they moved to another meeting and painful conversation, but it felt like he was getting somewhere.  Of course, he understood what the minster of education was talking about and he was glad that the man listened to him.

He was starting to like the minster until one of the servants came in.  She was young, and he think he went to school with her.  He really didn’t pay to much attention to the girls in school.  They were all too weird for him.  The man smirked, looked over his glasses at her as she went about filling up the water glasses and placing a new carafe of coffee on the table.  She was wearing the regular uniform that all the servants wore around the Citadel.   She had the top button of the white shirt undone, which was not unusual.  Not everyone was like Ignis and looked like they were always freshly pressed.  He also knew that the kitchens, despite the air conditioning, was always to warm.   When she walked behind him and patted her butt, causing her to drop the empty cups in her hands and a small yelp.

“Uncalled for!”  Noctis blurted angrily.

Regis frowned heavily.

“It was just a little appreciation of her work,” he said as he watched her pick up the broken dishes and apologize profusely.

“She’ll get a raise then.  She doesn’t need your dirty hands on her butt!”  He growled and was beyond angry at how he was treating someone that was devoting her time to serve him and his family. 

“Regis, you should educate your son on how these things work.”  His tone was different than how he was talking earlier.  It was like he was above the laws or basic human decency.

He wanted to be angry at his dad for not saying anything to stop the fool thinking that it was okay to manhandle one of their servants.  But one look at his father told him that he had no reason to be angry at his father.  His father appeared calm, but Noctis could pick up a whiff of electricity in the air that told him that his dad was not pleased.  He may be calm but there was fury running under his skin.  His father lifted his chin and in the smoothest and most terrifying voice, spoke.  “I am.  You’re now relieved of your duties.”  Regis pressed a button that Noctis didn’t even know that was there and three members of the Glaive entered in the room almost immediately.   Regis pointed to the minster.  “Have him escorted out.  He’s no longer a member of the council.  Ensure that his office is cleared.”

Two members of the Glaive saluted and said, “Yes, your majesty.”

“And, Ferox.  Take this young lady to the kitchen and ensure she gets settled.”

“Yes, sire,” Ferox said with a bow and went about to collect the girl.   She seemed frantic at the mess that she made.

“Don’t worry about the glass, child,” Regis said and the smell that could only be described as magic filled the room.  She seemed to relax as she looked up at his father.  “It can wait.”  She gave a weak protest, but Ferox coaxed her to her feet and escorted her quietly out of the room.  The minster protested and sputtered as the Glaive had to force the loudly protesting man out of the room. 

He sat in silence with his father for ten minutes before his father finally spoke after letting out a hefty sigh.  “How unpleasant.”

“What a jerk,” Noctis said and sank in his chair.  “How could he even think that is okay to do that!?”

“There is always someone that wants to abuse their power,” Regis said and looked at him.  “I don’t know whatever possessed him to think that was okay to do in my presence.”

Noctis grunted.  “He will most likely say he was in heat or something and couldn’t control himself.”

“It’s a common excuse.” Regis said and leaned back.  “And an unacceptable one.”

“Agreed.” Noctis grumbled. “I hate that excuse.  I mean.”  He didn’t really want to talk to his dad about sex because that is where this conversation was going.  His father had raised his eyebrow.  “You know.”  He waved his arms around and tried to hide his blushing.  “All that stuff.”

His fathers laugh caught him off guard and for once, he didn’t look so tired.  “Of course, son.  Of course.”  He was glad that his father dropped the topic about sex, heat, and all that stuff, because that was not what he wanted to talk to his dad about.  “Now, I think we are done for the day.  Why don’t we go for a walk in your mother’s garden and take a breather?” 

Noctis agreed to the walk as a nice distraction from all that happened before Gladio showed up to take him home for the day and Clarus to escort his father.  He was so happy to see his shield, more knowing that he was going to eat pizza, have a beer, and play video games until he falls asleep with Prompto at his side.

“Heard you had an interesting meeting,” Gladio said as they drove home.

Noctis didn’t want to talk about it because it made him mad all over again.  “It’s dealt with.  Dad didn’t put up with that type of shit and neither should anyone else.”

“Good.  That guy was always a douche.  I think I saw him eyeing Iris once until I stood in front of her.” 

That made Noctis even angrier at the man if he was looking at Iris that way.  She was so young and there was no reason for someone to look at her that way.  Noctis was glad when Gladio changed the conversation. 

“Heard some good news too,” Gladio said as he took a corner toward his building.  Noctis waited for him to continue but he sat there with a stupid smug on his face.

“Well, are you going to tell me?” Noctis finally asked as Gladio seemed to be determined to be silent.

“Nope.”

The bastard smile got smugger.

“I could order you to tell me.”

“Won’t work.  Ignis is the one that told me and I’m not going to get him mad.” 

“Whatever!”  Noctis yelled in frustration.  “You’re the most frustrating person in all of Eos, you know that?”

“Yep,” Gladio responded, still smiling like an idiot. 

“I was going to ask if you wanted to go fishing but I think I’ll leave you behind.”  Noctis teased.  “Damn shame to go camping without my Shield.”

“Never have too worry about that.”  Gladio said as he pulled into the parking garage.  “Your father would never allow you without protection.”

“I’ll make it work,” Noctis threatened even though he knew it was empty.   It wouldn’t be fun camping or fishing without Gladio.

“Of course,” Gladio said.  “Come on, Princess.  Let’s get you in your apartment so I can take Iggy on a date.”

“Date night, huh?” Noctis raised his eye brow at that.  The picture that Prompto sent him last night.  He felt that strange pang again at that.   Not that he begrudged his two bodyguards and friends for being in a relationship.  They were not much for showing public displays of affection, but he could see how much they cared deeply for each other. 

When they thought he wasn’t looking, he saw the touches, the gazes, the stupid-in-love-smiles and the stupid whispers they would share.  They didn’t flaunt it in front of him, but he felt envious never had that type of closeness in his life.

It was so stupid.

“Yep.  Going to have a wild night on the town.”  Gladio smiled brightly and his eyes almost sparkled.

Noctis knew better.  Ignis did not do wild nights on the town.  “I bet you’re going to a poetry reading in a coffee shop or something similarly lame.”

When Gladio didn’t respond but rubbed the back of his head, he knew that he got the answer right.  “Pfft.  You two are pathetic.”

“Shut it, brat.”  Gladio said and rustled his hair.  He pushed him off and tried to put it back to the way it was supposed to be.  He really hated it when people messed with his hair.

They had arrived at his apartment and he could smell the pizza through the door.  It was from his favorite place.  He could tell before even seeing the box.  The thought of pizza and beer had him feeling better.  He hoped that Prompto was already here because he really wanted to see him.  Texts only cut it so much when he wanted to talk stupid stuff with his best friend.

He opened the door to see Prompto hovering over the boxes and Ignis threatening him with a pizza server.  Seeing Prompto never failed to make him smile. 

“Thank goodness!”  Prompto yelled and threw his arms up in the air.  “I was sure I was going to die smelling this awesome pizza.  Ignis wouldn’t even let me have one bite!”

“It’s never one bite,” Ignis said.  “Now, sit at the table and eat off plate like normal humans.”    He knew Ignis was going to make them eat at the table, but it wouldn’t matter.  They would eat a couple of pieces at the table while he was still here but eat the rest in front of the television when they were playing the game.

Then he noticed what Prompto was wearing.  It made him stop cold where he stood causing Gladio to bump into him.  His body heated up at the sight and the rush of seeing him in a black t-shirt and sweats with the iconic skull symbols emblazoned on them.

“What are you wearing?”

He knew what it was, and he knew what it meant.  The shirt and sweat pants were standard wear for all the Glaive.

Prompto beamed at him.  “I joined the Glaive today!  I finally made up my mind!”  He puffed out his chest.  “Got the clothes after I officially signed the documents and all that.  I start the next set of classes at the end of September!”

“The Glaive?”  He paused and looked how proud Prompto looked and how he was starting to shrink into himself again with that simple question.  “Aw man!  Why do you have to go through Glaive training?   Ignis, why didn’t you just get him directly into the Crownsguard?”

“There is protocol’s, highness.”  Ignis explained.

“Couldn’t we just skip that part?  I mean, you two were never Glaives!”  He pointed to Ignis and Gladio.

“We were raised to be your Crownsguard, dope,” Gladio said and gave him a push.  He stumbled enough that he had to grab a chair to keep himself standing.

Ignis gave a more diplomatic answer, “He needs to go through the proper training channels.  I’m quite sure by the end of the session there will be no question when you sign the documents making him part of your Crownsguard.”

“Right,” Noctis said and looked at Prompto who was no fiddling with the hem of his shirt.  He went over to his best friend and threw his arms around him.  “Well, we have six months to plan your fatigues because I won’t accept anyone else into my guard.”

Prompto beamed and seemed to glow with how happy he was.  Noctis felt the warmth in his chest to see him smiling so bright.  “Forever at your side.”  He hugged him back and laughed. 

“Now, you two.  Eat _at the table,”_ Ignis said pointedly, “And clean up after yourselves.  I will have my phone with me but I’m planning on ignoring it as emergencies does not cover burnt popcorn or running out of beer.”

Rolling his eyes but smiling easily, Noctis sat down at the table as Prompto put the warm boxes there.  “Thanks, Ignis.  Enjoy your date night.”  Gladio was now standing behind Ignis and had an innocent hand on his waist and guiding Ignis toward the door.

“If there is one text or phone call, I’m going to beat you both into submission,” Gladio threatened as he helped Ignis with his jacket. 

“I’m sure we’ll be fine for one night in my secured apartment,” Noctis whined and rolled his eyes.  They were always worried about his safety, but the pizza man wasn’t even allowed up to his place without security clearance.

Ignis looked like he wanted to say something more but was quickly shunted out the door by Gladio.

“I think I’ve been cramping their relationship since I moved in,” Prompto said with a sigh as he flipped open a box of pizza. 

“That’s one of my goals in life,” Noctis said.  Prompto’s smile had faded.  He never wanted to see him sad because of something that he said.  “Well, mainly it’s to bug Gladio.  I’m glad Ignis is happy but Gladio deserves to be terrorized a little bit.  When he stops calling me, _princess,_ I’ll stop teasing him.”

“They are both terrifying when their angry.  They both have stern faces that scare normal people.”  Prompto got a look as if he was remembering something.  “And scary faces… Oh man.  Noct.  I met Cor and I was such an idiot.”  He dramatically dragged the hands over his face.

He plopped himself down in the chair beside Prompto and grabbed a slice of his favorite.   Pepperoni and extra cheese.  Ignis always got him his favorite. 

“What happened?”  He asked not bothering with manners.  Ignis wasn’t around to remind him that he was royalty.  He had enough of that for the day.

“I meant to say, ‘Glad to meet you, sir’ but I was thinking that it was awesome to meet the Immortal and it came out as, ‘Awesome to be Immortal’.”  Prompto put his hand over his face.  “I just about died right there.  Seriously.  I could have died.”

Noctis couldn’t help but chuckle.  “What did he say back?”

Prompto kept his face covered.  “’It is’.”  He peaked at him through his fingers.  “He had this weird smirk on his face and I was certain that he was going to tell me to leave, but he said I did good after all of that, and I was accepted so I’m not a complete moron.”

“You’re not a _complete_ moron,” Noctis said with a smile.  Prompto dropped the hand over his face and glared at him. 

“Just you wait until you have to solve the church puzzle in the game.  I bet you can’t do it.”  Prompto grabbed a slice of the other pizza.  Ham and pineapple.  Fruit didn’t belong on pizza, but since Prompto liked it, he would put up with it.

“I totally can do a simple puzzle!”  Noctis jumped up from the table.  “Come on, Glaive.  Let’s take this fight to the living room!”  He grabbed a box of pizza and saw that Prompto was doing the same.  “And get the beer!”

“Right-o, Prince-o,” Prompto said and bounded to the kitchen.  He looked so much lighter on his feet and happier than he had been in the past weeks.  Noctis felt the same. 

Prompto would be in his Crownsguard in no time at all and he was going to make sure of it.

They played the video game until the stupid dreaded puzzle came up and Noctis threw the remote at a laughing Prompto.  He had no problems figuring the whole thing out, jumping over spikes, pulling levers, and pushing boulders to get through the horribly designed dungeon.

“Stupid puzzles,” Noctis groaned as he tried to take the controller back from Prompto who held it away from him.  “Hey!  It’s my game.”

“But I solved the puzzle.  My turn,” Prompto said and continued the next part of the story.  Noctis pretended to pout and leaned against him.  He idly sipped the last beer and enjoyed leaning against the warmth of Prompto.

“Hey?”

“Hmmmm?”

“Wake up.”

“Not sleeping,” Noctis quickly denied.  Noctis hadn’t realized that he had dozed off.  He was looking up at Prompto and it took him a moment to realize that the controller was sitting on his chest and his head was resting in his lap.  Prompto had a hand in his hair and was smoothing his hair from his forehead.

“Of course, not,” Prompto said with a large smile on his face.

His hand felt good in his hair and he couldn’t stop the hum that his gentle hand caused.  “Comfy.”

“I noticed,” Prompto tossed the controller to the side.  “Let’s get you to bed.”  A hand pushed on his shoulder and he grumbled as he was pushed up.  “Oh, come on.  Don’t be so dramatic.”

“But comfy,” Noctis whined but allowed himself to be pushed up.

“It will be comfier in bed,” Prompto said and chuckled.

“You’ll be staying,” Noctis asked as he was propped on his feet and leaning heavily against his friend’s side.  He had a very large and empty bed.  When he was younger, Ignis used to always sleep with him and there were times when Gladio would as well.  It never happened now and sometimes it made him sad.  He knew he was called a clinger when he slept.  His father joked about that a lot when he was younger too.  Everyone complained about it but at the same time they would still wrap their arms around him and allow him to get comfortable nestled into their side.

But as he grew, less people would share the bed.   It was considered inappropriate for adults to just cuddle.

Which he thought was the dumbest thing ever.  He was glad when Prompto didn’t seem to have to much of a hang-up sharing his bed.  Maybe it was most of the time, they fell asleep watching a movie together, or playing games.

“Dude, you have a perfectly good spare bedroom.”  Prompto said as they both wobbled to Noctis bedroom.

“It’s a horrible bed,” Noctis said.  “Mine is more comfortable.”

“But,” Prompto tried to protest but Noctis squeezed his side.  “Fine then.  But you need not to be a cling on.”

“Can’t promise that.”  Noctis let go of Prompto and collapsed onto his bed.   His face looked twisted as if he was conflicted about something.  “Prom.  I’m tired and it’s to much work to walk to the other room now.”

He wrinkled his nose and rolled his eyes.  “Whatever, ya derp, I’m going to wash up,” Prompto walked to his bathroom.  Noctis quickly got ready for bed.  It didn’t take much.  He took off his pants and socks and then curled under his heavy blankets.  Prompto returned with the bathroom with a freshly scrubbed face, brushed hair, wearing his boxers and new Glaive shirt.

Noctis waited for him to get comfortable before moving closer to his side and resting his head against his chest.  He felt Prompto hesitate but soon his arms wrapped around his and his chin rested on the top of his head.

“You know, as an omega, I really shouldn’t be sleeping with you.”

Noctis snorted, “Yeah, well, as a prince, no one should be sleeping with me.  You’re one of the few that I trust to cuddle with me, so sush and go to sleep.”  Noctis eyes were already heavy and he couldn’t keep them open.  Prompto was very warm and comfortable.  His hand on his back was rubbing him gently and it felt good.

He was sure that Prompto said something else, but he was tired and would have to try to remember to ask him what it was in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompto is on a path and I think he's truly happy about it.
> 
> \- as a bonus, I am trying to finish up an interlude chapter for Ignis and Gladio for Gladnis week. So, hopefully Sunday? >.>
> 
> They do deserve a date night. ;3
> 
> AND THEN, maybe some more Prompto whump. XD
> 
> I derp on tumblr as [albedosoyna](http://albedosoyna.tumblr.com/)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto is literally cinnamon roll

The beginning of the first month of training was brutal in a couple of ways.

The first was that he realized he still had work to do on getting into top shape.  He may have passed the physical but what they were expected to do was still out of his range.  The only part that he excelled at was the running.  Excelled may have been to big of a word, but he was better than the other people in that training group.

The next was not hiding that he was an omega.  There were three other omega’s but they were all girls.  That was normal.  He was not.

They all had to understand each other to fight together as a coherent unit.  That was the most stressful morning.  He got a lot of strange looks and harsh words were whispered behind his back; teachers’ pet, prince toy, omega whore, and guard slut. 

The words hurt.

He almost thought it would be better if they had circumvented the protocols and get Noctis to have him to be part of the Crownsguard immediately.  If he was going to be put through the insults there was little point in going through the extra training.

But it got better as he proved himself in both classroom and physically.

He was exhausted at the end of the day, but he did it.  He did the studying of history and royal protocols and since he had Ignis to bounce ideas off it was easy for him to do understand.  He thought Noctis would help him with that as well, but Noctis would grumble about how it was all dumb.  Gladio helped him with understanding the history of the Shield.  So, he aced those classes.

The instructors seemed stop picking on him when they realized that he was taking the training seriously and wasn’t looking for an easy push through.  The fellow cadets accepted him better as he got better at the physical stuff.  He even made a few friends out of the bunch.

He was agile and quick.  He knew that heavy weapons were not going to be his strong point and they would tease him about that.  He was never going to get strong enough to lift a grand sword like Gladio did, but he could handle the lighter weapons and guns.   He could hold his own in sparing matches and was getting to the point where he was understanding battle cues and able to team up in practices.

He was making steady progress.  He was being accepted on his own merit.  He was part of a team and a family of sorts.

Nearly dying had been the best thing that had happened to him.  He knew it was twisted to think that way but none of this would have been happening if he was still under the thumb of his parents and still taking those weird drugs.

He was becoming his own person and, like everyone was saying to him, being an omega didn’t matter.

“Prompto?”

He blinked and looked up at Ignis.   He had put a plate of breakfast in front of him.  “I can only tolerate one person at a time dozing at the breakfast table.”

He looked over at Noctis who had his cheek cupped in a hand and heavily leaning against it.  His eyes were closed, his mouth open and his other hand holding a fork with some eggs on it.

“Dude,” Prompto laughed.  “I’m not as bad as him.”  He pointed to the sleepy prince who startled away.

Ignis gave a huff but there was humour in it.  “Eat up you two.  We have to leave in a half an hour.”

“Ugh,” Noctis groaned.  “Can’t I call in sick?”

“No,” Ignis said simply and walked into the kitchen.

“Aren’t you even going to ask what’s wrong?” Noctis whined.

“Staying up to late playing video games is not an illness, Highness,” Ignis deadpanned and Prompto covered his mouth to prevent from laughing.  Noctis groaned and returned to eating his breakfast.

He had spent the night with Noctis.  He always came over here after his shift at the Sushi hut.  It allowed him to get an extra hour of sleep before heading in for training.  He would shower and then drop dead in his bed to wake up to Ignis telling them to get up.  He would have to disentangle himself from Noctis who was always clinging to him. 

It always made a relaxing morning.

“Obstacle course today?” Noctis asked.

“Testing time improvements,” Prompto said.  “I should gain at least five minutes on my starting time.”

“You’re sure of yourself,” Noctis said sarcastically.

“Well, yeah.”  Prompto said.  “Have you seen my guns?”  Prompto flexed his biceps.  They were the part of him that there was visible improvement.

Noctis snorted.  “Yeah, yeah.  Text me your time when you are done.  I’m going to be stuck in my new office today and it’s going to suck.”

“Yes, well, it’s a necessity,” Ignis said.  “Now, eat.  We cannot be tardy.”  Ignis said as he sat down to eat his own meal.  “Remember to go to the training room as you have a session with Gladio today.  I shall pick you all up from there at around six.”

Noctis grunted as he stuffed some more of his breakfast in his mouth.  Prompto noticed that the prince was not as grumpy in the mornings when he was around.  When he came with Ignis to pick him up for his new morning routine, Ignis would have to nag him to get him moving.  When he slept over, he usually was able to get him up and going and at least in the shower before Ignis arrived.  Ignis had even stated that he was Noctis was less sullen when he was around.

The statement made him feel warm.

“I think Gladio is trying to kill me,” Noctis whimpered.  “Last training, he threw me against the wall and got mad at me when I warped away.”  He rolled his shoulder.  “He’s being a big jerk.”

“Gladio is not trying to kill you on purpose.”  Ignis said.  “He would be out of a job if that were the case and I wouldn’t date a dead beat.”

Prompto laughed at him.  Noctis rolled his eyes.  “Whatever.”

The next three hours were a flurry of activity.   They had their usual classes at the beginning of the day to make sure that they were awake and then they were escorted to the obstacle course.   Prompto was not expecting to have such a crowd of Glaive there.  Nyx was there standing at attention beside Cor and the current shield.  He looked all serious for once instead of his usual sloppy smile and stance.

He did get a wink out of him.

Gladio’s dad looked terrifying.  He had met him before and he always had a serious face, but he didn’t think he was that scary when he had Iris draped over his shoulders and trying to avoid his daughters ticking fingers.  Here he was standing straight, wearing his official royal robes and his face set in a deep frown as he looked down at them all.

He stood at attention and couldn’t help but jump when his voice boomed over top of them.  He was glad to see that he wasn’t the only one that jumped.

“I expect to see progress.  If you have not made progress you will start all over again.   You must be able to protect the king and his council with your lives and sloppiness will not be tolerated.”  Clarus announced.

Cor was the one that took the step forward with Monica holding a clipboard at his side.  “Two at a time.  When we call you, you will step up, so pay attention.” 

“Argentum and Salire!”  He jumped up to the starting line and anxiously waited for the go whistle.  He was ready to go to show how much improvement he had made.  He was certain that he would increase his time on the course. 

“Ready to go, twink,” Salire said and smirked at him. 

He rolled his eyes at his classmate.  He got along with Salire from the beginning.  “Totally, twunk.”  He smiled back as Cor blew a whistle.

He focused on the race and the obstacles; jumping, running, spinning, crawling twisting through the maze.  It was mind clearing only focusing on the next step, the next obstacle, the next hurdle to cross.  He didn’t have to think of anything else and it was freeing.  He could feel that he was making good time.  He was ahead of Salire, but not by much.  He climbed up the last rope wall, and his lungs were burning with not getting enough oxygen.  His legs and arms were burning but the end was just a couple of steps away.  Jumping dramatically down from the top of the rope wall, he rolled and staggered the last ten steps across the finish line.

He had enough grace to not collapse with Cor and Clarus looking at him and the stop watch.  He could barely hear their voices announce his times.  “Argentum, twenty-five, thirty-seven.  Salire, twenty-five fourty-two.” He whooped for joy and hugged Salire.  He had gained the five minutes on the course and he didn’t make any mistakes.

“Good job, boys,” Clarus said as Cor was announcing the next two runners.

Grabbing water and sitting down by the wall with Salire, they watched the other trainee’s go through gauntlet. 

The area where the obstacle course was located was in a large atrium room with glass on the ceiling where you could see the light of the towers.  Prompto enjoyed the room.  It was always warm, comfortable, and airy.

Normally.

After the half the students went through the obstacle course, it was starting to feel stuffy and uncomfortable.  He drank three waters as he sat by the group of people that completed the race and the room started to stink.

It started off just enough of a smell to tickle his nose.  It was a sour smell, that was like rotting grass.   It would come and go in waves as more members finished their turn.  He backed against the wall where the air seemed to be a clearer.

No one else seemed to be bothered by the increasing odour in the area.  He covered his mouth and nose and tried to figure out where the smell was coming from.  A sulphur tang was added to the odour as well as burnt feathers.

It was awful.  He was starting to feel nauseous and a headache brewing.

“Wow,” Salire said and looked at him.  “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone turn actually green before.”  He gave him a good-natured shove and that sent his stomach lurching.  He covered his mouth and stepped away from him.  “Yo, seriously.  You okay?” 

He was too scared to answer as the horrible stink increased.  He could only shake his head as he backed against the wall as his stomach churned.  This is the worst thing that could happen would be to throw up with the Shield and Cor a couple of feet away.  They would think that it was luck that he passed the obstacle course and they would kick him out of the Glaive for being a fraud.

“Prom?”

He didn’t know who’s voice it was.  His vision was going blurry and the smell was everything awful all rolled into one.  He pinched his nose and breathed through his mouth, but it didn’t get rid of the odour.  It seemed to make it stronger.  It caused his stomach to churn and he let out burp that threatened to be more. He darted to the bathroom.  He hoped that he was going to make it.

The locker rooms were a mistake.  A big mistake.  It smelled worse in there.  It smelled like everything awful from outside plus something had died at the same time and was rotting for weeks stuffed in one of the lockers.

He made it to the toilet and threw up.   The smell only got worse with that.  There were voices around him and a hand on his shoulder, but he couldn’t talk back.  He could only to continue to empty his stomach contents until someone thrust a bucket in his hands.  His arm was thrown over someone shoulder while he hugged the bucket.  He couldn’t hear voices, but he wasn’t sure what they were saying.

His whole focus was on how he wished his stomach would crawl out of his gut already.

 

* * *

 

Gladio was surprised to get a call from his father.  He thought he was busy with evaluating the new recruits and almost didn’t answer the call, because he was supposed to be working on ensuring the security for the next visitor from Gralea.

“Get down to the hospice and bring me a pair of shoes,” Clarus commanded.

“Why?” 

“Prompto is ill.”

“What happened?”  He asked but his father had already hung up.  His father did not have good phone etiquette.   He rolled his eyes and begged forgiveness on leaving the meeting.  He knew he could trust the other members of the security detail to ensure that everything was arranged.  He also needed to know how Prompto being ill and his father needed shoes were connected.

He jogged down to the hospice wondering what could be wrong with Prompto.  He hoped that he wasn’t hurt by the course or in training.  A lot of the glaive twisted their ankles or sprained a wrist.  He was pretty sure that his dad would not call him for something as little as that or go to the hospice over.

As he jogged up to the royal wing he thought of worse and worse things that could have happened to him.

When he got there his father and Cor were standing at the secure entrance.  He gave him a confused look.  “What’s the deal?”

Clarus looked at him.  “Prompto was puking his guts out.”  He looked down at his feet and Gladio saw that he was only wearing his socks.  He raised an eyebrow at that.  “And ruined my shoes.”

He had to cover his mouth, but it didn’t stop the snort.  Clarus narrowed his eyes and grabbed the runners from his hand.  “Yeah, yeah.  Laugh it up, kid.”  From the look on Cor’s face he must have already been teased about it as his eyebrow twisted upwards.  “Doctor Marsha and Audientis are in there with him.” 

“You don’t know what happened?”

“Not yet,” Cor said.  “He did well at the course.  An excellent time and agility improvement.  He didn’t seem to have any issues after the test until about an hour later.  Food poisoning, maybe.”

Gladio shook his head.  “Doubt it.  It was Iggy’s cooking, but you never know.”  He really doubted that it was Iggy’s cooking.  He cooked for Noctis this morning and he had not heard a word about Noctis being sick.

“I need to get back,” Clarus said.  “Give me an update on the kid when the doctors are done with him.”  His father patted him on the shoulder.  “Make sure he’s okay.”

“I will, dad,” Gladio said and nodded at Cor who followed his father.  Gladio turned to find out which room that Prompto was in.  One of the nurses noted him and told him to follow her.  He easily did and saw Nyx in front of the door standing at attention.

“Hey?  How’s he doing?” Gladio asked as he stood in front of him.

“He stopped puking, so there is that.”  Nyx said as he looked over his shoulder.  “Doctor Mar put him on some heavy-duty anti-nausea stuff, so he doesn’t have to worry about hitting the bucket.”

“Did you see what brought it on?”

“Kid was sitting there with the others, went green and then couldn’t stop puking.”  Nyx ran a hand through his hair.  “Was looking forward to seeing him on the gun range this afternoon.  I checked his water bottle that he had been drinking from and it was just water.”

“You thought someone was poisoning him?”  Gladio growled at the thought of someone wanting to hurt him.  He knew there was a chance when it came to being the prince friend that people would try to get to him. 

“Nah, a prank.  Used to put vinegar in Crowe’s water from time to time until she did all my laundry in it.  I smelled like a pickle for a month,” Nyx said. 

Gladio had forgotten about that.  “Is it safe for me to go in there?”

Nyx shook his head.  “Wait for the doc to come out.  They were doing some blood work or something and were looking all serious.”

He set his jaw into a frown and pulled out his phone.  He needed to text Noctis and Ignis about this, so they wouldn’t hear things through the rumour mill.

 

By the time that he finished typing the text out, Doctor Mars opened the door with a nurse.  “Gladio.  Your father said you would be coming down.”  The nurse scurried off with her tray of vials with a courteous bow.

“Can I go in?”

“Of course.  He’s a little spaced out.  I gave him some pain killers to calm him down,” she said. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Gladio asked.

“The blood work will confirm my suspicions.”  He should have known that she would avoid his question until he had the answer.  “Go talk to him.  He’s going to worry about failing out of the Glaive.”  She patted his arm.   “Have you contacted Ignis?”

“I texted him,” Gladio assured.

She nodded and held the door open for him.  He walked past her and into the room where Prompto was hooked up to an IV and looked at him glassy eyed.  He was wearing an oxygen mask that covered his mouth and nose. “Hey, dork.  How are you feeling?”

Prompto groaned and closed his eyes.  “I puked on your dad’s shoes.  I can’t believe I did that.”

“No biggie.  I’ve puked all over him before,” Gladio said.  “I was three, but I got it all over his robes.”

“You are _not_ helping!”  Prompto whined and looked at the ceiling.

Gladio took a chair and spun it around and straddled it.  “So. What happened?  Nyx said you were all good and then turned green.”

“It smelled awful in there.  Awful.  I don’t know what it was, but it was awful.  It was so awful.”  Prompto said with a loud sigh.  “I thought it was just because we were sweating and all, but it was worse than that.  It was awful.”

“So, it was awful,” Gladio couldn’t supress a grin as he spoke to him.  Prompto’s eyes were bright blue and to a pin point of black.

“So awful,” Prompto poked at the bandage with the IV that was in his arm.  “I lasted as long as I could, and I made it just in time to get to the bathroom.  It was horrible.”  Prompto move to poking at the mask.  “This helps so it doesn’t smell awful anymore.”

“What was so awful about it?” Gladio asked. 

“Everything.  It was like I was smelling the worlds garbage compactors and dumps all compressed into one room,” Prompto whimpered.  “Do you believe me?  It was awful.”

Gladio nodded and patted his arm.  “I believe you.”

“Am I still going to be a Glaive?”  Prompto looked like he was going to start pouting.

“Of course,” Gladio said and was glad to see Prompto immediately perk up.  “You’ll be back to being exhausted and sore in no time.”

Prompto giggled.  Despite the dire situation, Prompto looked rather well.  He looked heathier since he moved in with Ignis and happier for the most part.  There hadn’t been any signs of him being ill since then.  He didn’t seem to have any more breakdowns since the day with the stupid cops that didn’t know how to do their jobs.

“Sound’s good,” Prompto said in a sleepy voice.  His eyes closed, and he seem to drop off into sleep.

He took the time to look at his phone to see if Ignis got his message.  He obviously did as he had a text from Noctis.

He pocketed his phone and took a deep breath.  The kitchen was near by and he could smell them baking either muffins or cookies. Another strong waft told him that it was cinnamon buns. 

It was making him hungry.  He would get a snack after Noctis and Ignis got there and they could all have one.  Breakfast was to many hours ago and his stomach reminded him that he didn’t have a snack at his normal time.

It wasn’t long before the door swung open and Noctis pushed his way in.  “Prompto?”

Gladio grabbed the prince to stop him from tumbling onto the bed. “Easy there, Noct.”  Gladio said.  “He’s fine.”

Ignis was right behind him with a concerned furrow to his brow.  “Don’t wake him up, Noct.” 

It was to late though.  Prompto’s eyes opened and he grinned widely.  “Noctis,” he whispered through the mask.  “Hey, dude.”

“What happened?” Noctis asked.

“It was awful,” Prompto said and quickly drifted off to sleep again.

Noctis turned to him and Gladio explained what he knew which really wasn’t that much but Noctis did seem to find it funny that he puked on Clarus shoes. The prince took the chair that Gladio had vacated a grabbed Prompto’s hand.  

Ignis stood beside him and hummed.  “This was all rather sudden.”

“Was it something he ate?” Noctis asked.  “Did you feed him vegetables at breakfast.”

“Some people like vegetables, Highness,” Ignis dryly spoke.  “And I hardly think it was my cooking as you would be ill as well.”

Noctis rolled his eyes as he gripped Prompto’s hand.   “He looks okay,” he muttered more to himself than to them. 

“So, while we wait for the doc to get back with the test results, you think we can hit up whatever their baking.  I’m starving,” Gladio said.   “That smell is driving me crazy.”  Gladio’s stomach demonstrated how the fresh baking was affecting him with a loud grumble.

“It does smell nice in here,” Noctis said.  “Like cinnamon rolls.  I could go for one.”

“You will both ruin your lunch,” Ignis said as he took a deep breath.  “And I smelled nothing in the halls.”  The last part of the sentence was spoke quietly as he hummed.

“Prompto would want one when he wakes up,” Noctis whined.  Gladio rolled his eyes. 

“The kitchen is not part of this hospice.” Ignis adjusted his glasses.   “But I will endeavor to fetch you a snack that will not ruin eating a proper lunch.”

Noctis nodded and leaned back in the chair and stared at Prompto.  Gladio moved to stand by the wall so he could watch his ward and his friend.  They stayed in silence as they waited for Ignis to return.  Noctis brought out his phone and played some games.  Gladio listened to the sounds of the people down the halls, Nyx flirting with the nurses in the hall and the steady hum of the ventilation system and the oxygen going into Prompto’s mask.

When Ignis returned with a muffin for each of them, it did not match the smell of sugar and cinnamon that was flowing through the room, but it stopped his stomach from gurgling.

It wasn’t until Noctis finished his muffin.  “You know,” he leaned in close to the bed and inhaled.  His eyes closed, and he let out a deep sigh.  “Prompto smells.”

“That’s rather rude,” Ignis stated.  “He is ill, after all.”

“No, not bad,” Noctis said.  “You know, like a bakery.”

Ignis must have had the same thought that he did because he swore under his breath.

Noctis grinned and laughed, “Dear Astrals, Prompto smells like a cinnamon roll!”  He smiled at them. 

Gladio shook his head and laughed.  “Well, it suits him.”  His scent rolling out explained a lot of what happened today.  It should have overpowering with how strong it was in the room, but it was calming.

“Indeed,” Ignis said as he pulled out his notebook and began scribbling in it.

“It does suit him,” Noctis said and reached forward and squeezed Prompto’s hand.  “It will tone down though.  I mean, it’s nice and all, but it’s a lot.”

“The doctor will be able to answer that question, but from my research, I’m sure that his body is trying to figure out what it’s doing.  I know doctor Mar hoped that his glands would stabilize, and it seems that they decided to do so with gusto.”  Ignis closed his book.

“That causes puking?”  Noctis asked.

“Well, if he is giving off such a strong scent, he most likely was reacting to everyone else’s scent around him,” Ignis said.  “It will take him a little while to be come accustom to being able to detect the scent of others he should grow out of the puking part of his recovery.”  Ignis tapped his chin and started writing more things in his book.  “There are a few things that I’m sure will help him balance things out.”

“You’ve already researched all this?”  Noctis asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“Some people like to be prepared,” Ignis stated as snapped his book shut.  “Now, I do think that we can return back to the chambers.  Gladio, if you could be so kind as to let us know if the doctor will allow us to take him back home after he wakes?”

“Of course,” Gladio said.

“What?  I’m not going back to work!”  Noctis protested.

“it will be better than sitting and staring and him.  We don’t need you complaining that you are bored.”  Ignis smiled and shook his head. 

“But the reading of the reports is boring.”  He was in full pout mode now. 

“Ah, then, why don’t we switch things up.  Gladio, I do believe Noctis is behind on his training so lengthening his session would be par for the course.  I will stay here until the doctor returns and you two can go to the training rooms.”  Ignis always found a way to shock Noctis who went from shock, to pout, to anger and then resignation in a few seconds.

“You’re a jerk, Iggy,” Noctis said as he stood.  “But it’s better than reports.”  The prince rose from the chair, somehow, with distain oozing out of every pore. He walked beside Ignis and patted his arm.  “You will text me when he wakes up?”

“Of course, Majesty.”  Ignis said and turned to Gladio.  “Go easy on him, Gladio.”

Gladio nodded, “Like that was going to happen.”  He put his hand on Ignis shoulder and squeezed.  “I’ll have Jarod cook us dinner tonight, so we can make sure Prompto’s has a support.  Okay?”

Ignis nodded and let out a sigh.  “That is a good plan.”

Gladio leaned into his boyfriend and gave him a hug.  Ignis shoulders were tense but eased under his touch.  “Hey, he’ll be okay.”

“He was making great progress.  I would hate to see him fall back,” Ignis said.

“He’ll be fine,” Gladio whispered into his ear and then pulled back to smile at Ignis.  “ _There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how you use them.”_

Ignis smiled and his eyes softened.  “Ha.  Nietzsche. Thank you.”

“He has a lot of bumps, but we will help him over them.”  Gladio was glad that he was able to lift some the stress from his shoulders.

“I don’t recognize that quote.”  Ignis tilted his head and started at him. 

“Genuine Amicitia quote.”  Gladio was thrilled to hear Ignis chuckle and his small smile turn into a bright one.  He leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

Prompto snorted in his sleep and rolled over, drawing their gaze.  “I’ll let you know when the doctors come back.  Now, don’t leave the prince out with Nyx for to long or he will pick up more deplorable habits.”

Gladio took the hint, exiting only when he stole another kiss to see that Nyx and Noctis were already at the vending machine pressing the buttons to get chips.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the tags around a bit, so I think it covers the story a bit better on what it is and will become.
> 
> Feedback on all of this *waves arms* is much appreciated.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto gets used to scents, he goes back into training, and gets royal cuddles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I created a mood board for the chapter. This is what happens when I google search shit because my brain can't hold any information.

Prompto remembered the sneer on his father’s face when he would tell him that he stank and should stay in his room until he no longer smelled like rancid floor cleaning solution.   When the doctor said that his scent glands were reactivating he was horrified that he was going to have to go through it all over again.

He didn’t think his heat cycle was going to be off it’s normal path.   He wasn’t supposed to be going into heat yet, but with all the stress and change that he had been going through it was a possibility.  He wasn’t prepared.  He wasn’t ready to deal with all of this yet and he certainly was prepared to smell everyone.  He wasn’t prepared.

It took the doctor a couple of tries to understand what was happening to him.    

It was a small relief that when it was explained that he was not going into a heat, but his body was resetting itself.

During his stay in the hospice, he figured out that he was the source of the rich smell of fresh baked cinnamon buns.   He thought, at first, it was because of the roll that was sitting on his end table until he took the mask off to eat it.  Then he could smell how cloying the room was.  The miasma was overpowering, and he had to chase the nausea away again with the mask.   As he got upset the scent changed to a lemon smell that clashed horribly and upset him even further.

Ignis had assured him that he did not smell as horrible as he thought.  Ignis staying in the room despite his scent was somewhat reassuring. 

He hated the way people would look when they came in his room.  They would always make a face; not as bad as his father’s scowl, but still a face.  He knew he stank, and he knew the more he worried about it the worse he was making it.  The doctors gave him some more medicine to calm him down and reassured him that it would get better.

It didn’t feel like it was going to get better.

It didn’t feel like that at all.

Spending two days in the hospital unable to take off the mask without the threat of puking didn’t help either.

When he got home, he almost ran to the shower.  He wanted to wash off the strong scent that was causing him to stink.  There was no way he could have a proper shower in the hospital.  He felt so much better after using up all the hot water and eating a spicy curry that Ignis made for him.   

But he still smelled.

“It will get better,” Ignis kept saying.  He had been right about the other things, so he was somewhat assured that it would. 

Missing a week of Glaive training also didn’t quell his worry.  He didn’t dare leave the apartment.  The first couple of times he tried he would be overwhelmed and had to dive back inside.  Even the charcoal masks that they gave him to wear were not enough.  They looked awful and had a bad smell all their own, but at least it was tolerable after about four days.

By the fifth day of being able to tolerate most scents and was able to tell the difference of the scents of his friends. 

Ignis scent was not surprising.  Coffee and paperwork were a large part of who he was, and it was a comforting smell, now that it didn’t knock it off his feet.  Even when Ignis was upset, and the caramel would sneak into his scent it was not off-putting.  It amused him to see Gladio jump to anything that Ignis needed when caramel was in the air.

Gladio scent was different.  He hardly had any scent no matter what his mood.  Sometimes, he was certain that there was a faint floral scent around him, but it was not nearly as strong as Ignis or Noctis’ scent.

Noctis smell took him the longest to get used too.  He thought it was because he couldn’t describe it at first.  When Noctis was content it was almost like how grass smelled on a rainy day after a storm past but there was something else in there that he could not describe.  When Noctis was mad or upset, it smelled like brimstone.  Ignis explained that it was the magic that touched him that gave his scent a sharper edge.   Noctis claimed that it was because he was dangerous.   The prince didn’t see his shield and advisor roll their eyes at the statement.

It was a week before he dared go to the Sushi Stop and quit his job.  He had to wear one of the masks with the charcoal lining to bear all the different scents that were there. He nearly cried when he talked with the owner.  He was understanding and kind about it, but it still was hard.  Joining the Glaive gave him an allowance, but it was not nearly enough to cover the few expenses that he had and somehow pay Ignis back for all that he fronted him.

He had been sent home with a bag full of sushi and the promise that he will visit often.  It still made him sad, but he knew that working with the public now that he could _smell_ people would be hard until he got used to this whole different aspect of life.

That was the night that he broke down again.  He guessed it was overdue and it had built up to a breaking point.  The straw that broke the chocobo’s back was the cup that he accidently knocked off the table and broke.

It was part of a set that he knew that Ignis favoured.  They were [blue glass cups](http://www.laurelleaffarm.com/item-pages/vintage-hand-blown-Mexican-glass-tumblers-cobalt-blue-swirl-drinking-glasses-70s-80s-retro-Laurel-Leaf-Farm-item-no-m42462.htm) that were made to look like swirling water.   They were heavy and comforting to hold in the hand.  It made a loud crash as it shattered on the floor.  He froze in place as Ignis _tsked_ and went to get a broom. 

He froze in place and started to shake as he stared at the broken glass and watched Ignis clean it up without batting an eye.  Prompto felt the panic rising in him; his breathing became shallow, and his chest tightened.   When he was finally able to speak, he whispered a weepy, “I’m sorry.”

Ignis looked over to him after placing the glass in the garbage.  “It’s just a glass, Prompto.  Nothing to worry about.”

Prompto knew that they had been his mother’s glasses that she sent to him when he moved into his own place.   “I’ll find a way to replace it,” he whispered.  He couldn’t get his voice higher than a whisper and he could smell himself; the lemony sour scent.  The more he thought about it, the more he smelled.

“Hey.”  Ignis knelt in front of him and took his hands.  “It’s okay.  Really.”

“But your mom,” Prompto sniffled and the tears started to flow and his lip quiver to the point where he couldn’t talk any more.  It really was a dumb thing to cry over.

“My mom has literally hundreds of these types of glasses.   She makes them with my father as a hobby,” Ignis said with a smile.   “I remember helping her sell them at the farmers market in the spring.  She was quite the sales woman.”

“But you said they were special,” Prompto sobbed out.  He didn’t know if it was intelligible and he couldn’t even wipe at the tears because Ignis was holding his hands. 

Ignis laughed and squeezed his hands tightly.  “Oh, Prompto.  The reason I say that they were special is because they are blue.  She hates making the blue glass because the ingredient that makes the blue is hard to clean from the furnace.”  Through his tears he could see Ignis was smiling at him.  “She knows that blue is one of my favourite colours; blue and purple.  She refuses to make me purple glasses because the red colourant with the blue colourant cause even more problems and doesn’t come out as clear for her standards.”

He sniffled a few more times.  “Your parents blow glass?”

“Yes, they do.”  Ignis smiled up at him and patted his hands.  “My mother told me that she learned how to do it out of spite due to her mother not buying her a blown [glass spiracorn as a child](http://glasscaketops.com/horses/horse28.htm).  If she wouldn’t buy it for her she would make her own.  Before I was born, she bought a furnace and learned how to mold glass.  She now has a wall of glass spiracorns of various colours and forms.  My mother is known for being tenacious.”

Prompto laughed and was able to pull his hands free to scrub at his face.  “So that’s where you get it from.”

Ignis smirked and stood.  “She reminds me at every letter she sends.”

“You write her letters?  Can’t you phone her?”  Prompto kept scrubbing at his face. 

“The phone lines are not as reliable as we would like.  Plus, it is nice to get a piece of mail that is not a bill.”  Ignis said.  He tilted his head to the side and gave him a soft smile that he usually reserved for Gladio or Noctis.   “You okay now?”

Prompto nodded.  “I think so.  Thanks, Iggy.  I’m sorry for getting all emotional.”

“Never say your sorry for your feelings,” Ignis said and patted his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen.  “And this is a safe place for you to discuss and feel them.  Also, if you ever need privacy, you are welcome to tell me.  I will not mind spending a night with Noctis or with Gladio to allow you alone time.”

Prompto was horrified at the thought of kicking Ignis out of his apartment.  He was the guest.  “I couldn’t kick you out of your own apartment!  This is your place more than mine!”  Prompto gasped.  “And I like having people around.  I spent a lot of time alone when I lived with my parents.”  He wiped at his face again to stop tears from forming again.  “So, it’s nice to know that there is someone around.”

“You’re not a guest here.  This is your home as well as mine.”  Ignis smile was soft and his eyes showed only warmth.  “Are you up for desert?  Something in a plastic bowl?”

Prompto laughed.   “Sure.  What do we have?” 

He watched Ignis smoothly go to the freezer, move some frozen vegetables and pull out a container of ice cream.  “I keep this hidden from the others because it wouldn’t last if Gladio or Noctis knows that I keep it here.  It is for emergency’s such as these.”  Ignis pulled out two plastic bowls from the cupboard and some chocolate syrup from behind the spices.

“Emergency omega-freak out?”  Prompto half heartedly joked.

“Well, I guess we can use it for that.”  Ignis back was to him as he opened the ice cream.  “I mostly use it for emergency beta-sugar craving moments.” 

They ate the secret ice cream together and Prompto learned more about Ignis mother and father.  Ignis was fond of his mother and obviously took after her.  He was closer to his mother than his father.   

“I would like to meet your mother one day.  She sounds like a wonderful woman,” Prompto said as he finished his bowl.

“She would like you too,” Ignis said and went to take the bowl.  He jumped to his feet and grabbed it out of his range. 

“I’ll wash these!  It’s my turn anyway,” Prompto stated as he went into the kitchen to clean up.

“Well, I’m not going to argue about that.”   Ignis smirked.  “I will take this opportunity to have a shower early so I can do some casual reading.  Gladio has been bothering me to finish reading part one of the _Sword and the Glass_ series.  It is becoming annoying that he wants to talk to me about the ending.  It’s becoming a nightly text asking me if I have finished it.”

Prompto finished the dishes, putting them in the rack to dry and then retreated to his own room.  He felt his chest swell in the room and the tears threaten to fall again. 

His room.

Ignis had always made it clear that it was his room but now it felt like his room.  Ignis had showed him the secret stash of ice cream and talked about his family.   He was not scared off when he was showing signs of being a broken omega.  He lay on his bed and stared at the various pictures on the walls.

He was happy and content for maybe the first time in his life.

His phone sounded bringing him out of musings.  He reached for it to see that it was Noctis was telling him to get on Kings Knight, they were behind on the leader board.  He gladly lost himself in the game until he couldn’t keep his eyes open.

In the morning, he woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of Gladio’s laughter.   He dragged himself out of bed and for the first day since he was hospitalized because of his body rebooting itself that he felt different.  Everything was not so overwhelming, and he felt calmer. 

He quickly washed up and came out to see Gladio with his arms around Ignis and Ignis sipping coffee that was freshly bought from the corner coffee shop.  Gladio looked over to him.  “Ah!  How are you feeling today?”  He let go of Ignis and leaned against the counter.

“Good,” he said and meant it. 

“Ready up for a run today?” Gladio asked as he drank from a blue glass cup.

“Yeah.  Yeah, I think I am.”

  

* * *

 

 

Prompto was back at training.  Cor was glad to see that he was doing well after his medical episode.  He hadn’t lost any progress despite the week he took to recover.  He had been obviously nervous but quickly got back into the swing of things and was back in with all the other trainees.   The young man’s smile was strained at first but quickly turned genuine as the day wore on. 

“He’s back?” Clarus muttered behind him.

“Your shoes are safe,” Cor said and gave him and elbow in the ribs. 

Clarus grunted but said nothing for awhile.  “He seems chipper.”

“He bounces back quickly,” Cor said.  “Is there something else you wanted or are you making a pest of yourself?”

“I wanted to talk to you about that report.” Clarus said.

Cor spun around.  “Not here.”  He didn’t wait for Clarus to respond but walked past him and down towards his office.  Clarus followed him without another word.  Cor had refrained from getting an office for most of his military career.  He didn’t like to be tied down with paperwork and reports.  He left that to others that were better at that than he was.  He had to give in five years ago when Monica pointed out that his living room was not a place to store files.

She had been right.

Like always.

The office was sparse.  It had a desk, a large filing cabinet, a comfortable chair that was behind the desk, and then one uncomfortable chair for anyone that visited him.  The desk had a lap top and a coffee mug that read “ _Worlds Greatest Dance Fighter_ ”.  It had been given to him by Monica after a night that involved a lot of alcohol, hormones, karaoke, and fighting.  It was a dumb joke, but he loved the mug.  No one dared comment on it.  Only one student had ever said anything and all he had to do was glare at him to get him to back down.

The story was not for young ears.

“Take a seat,” he pointed to the uncomfortable chair, which Clarus ignored and went to sit on the other side of the desk. 

Cor took the uncomfortable chair. 

“The first background check was obviously a failure if none of this was discovered before now.”  Clarus was always the type to get to the point.  Cor appreciated that.

“All of Otiosum’s reports are being reviewed,” Cor said.  “So far, Prompto’s report is the only one that,” Cor had to think of the right word, “was not accurate.”

“What does that mean, Cor?” Clarus demanded.

“It means that it appears that he was bribed to look the other way with Argentum,” Cor explained and hated that he had to say it.  Otiosum was one that he trained and worked with.  He was lost in a battle two years ago, but it still left an awful taste in his mouth.  Both for the fact that he had trusted the man and the fact that he couldn’t question him on his motives.

“Why?”

Cor couldn’t answer that question.  The room was starting to smell like daisies.   Clarus was getting angry.  “I don’t know yet.  We’re still investigating.”

Clarus let out a dramatic sigh and ran his hand over his short-shorn hair.  “I was glad to read that Prompto himself doesn’t seem to be a threat to the prince, but I’m concerned about the implication that he was meant to be.”

“As am I.”  Cor sat straighter and wiggled in the chair.  “There is a lot of mystery about Mr. Argentum and his intentions.  It appears that his origins are from Niflheim.”

Clarus growled and slammed his fist on the desk.  “The boy was being used as a pawn but when he was deemed not useful, he was tossed aside!”  The current shield often did not show much emotion outside of his home.  It was obvious that he liked Prompto.  The kid grew on you and he doubted anyone had a dislike for him.

“It appears so,” Cor said and stood.  He couldn’t sit in the uncomfortable chair any longer.  It was starting to hurt his back.  “There is a lot that needs to be clarified in the report, but it appears his care from his _parents_ started to lack, when they discovered that he was an omega.”

Clarus leaned back in the comfortable chair, causing it to creak slightly.  “The kid is sunshine in human form and they treated him like dirt.”  He growled as he shook his head.   “Are we sure he is not a threat?”

Cor nodded.  “He is medically cleared in all the ways that we can check.  The boy doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.  I have talked with Doctor Audientis at length about his potential threat to the prince.”  He frowned at the last conversation he had with the Doctor.

The doctor was good at his job but every time he talked to him he felt like he was being analyzed.  He didn’t like having his questions being answered with another question half the time.

“And?”  Clarus was glaring at him.

“He laughed at me for even suggesting it.”

“But you still are worried?”

“I worry that there is something that we are missing,” Cor said sternly, “And we may have already put the Prince at risk because of this mistake.”

Clarus nodded.  “Understandable.  What is the next course of action?”

“We will keep an eye on him.  He still has months of training before he would be allowed access to the magic of the crystal.”  Cor sighed and shook his head.  “I would hate to deprive the Prince of the friendship that he has with the boy.”

“Agreed.  Keep up with his training and we shall watch him and hope, for the Prince’s sake, that his brightness is not blinding us,” Clarus said and rubbed his forehead.  “This is giving me a headache.”

Cor softened at that change in Clarus.  He went from hard and stern to worried and pensive.  He walked behind Clarus and rested his hand on his shoulders.    They were tense as he began to massage them.  Clarus melted under his fingers.  “Fuck, that feels good,” Clarus breathed.   The shield closed his eyes and let himself be lost for a moment.  They didn’t get to many moments to share between them like they did in their youth.  It was a very uncommon relationship and pack that they had created at the time, but it was how they had been able to survive.  A pack that was no longer together, but it didn’t diminish the bond he felt with each of them.

“You need to relax, Clarus,” Cor said as he continued to move his fingers.

“If only were that easy,” Clarus said as he reached up and put his hand on his.  His blue eyes were soft as he sank in the chair further.  “You know, you missed your calling as a masseuse.”

“I’ve been told that before.”  Cor continued to dig his fingers into his shoulders.

Clarus gave a grunt as he hit a sensitive part at the base of his neck.  “You free tonight?”

“I charge by the hour,” Cor joked.  Clarus chuckled and the calmness finally reached his eyes.  “I’m free.  Monica is busy with a girl’s night out.”  He stroked the back of Clarus neck.  He leaned in close and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek before he whispered in his ear.  “My place or yours?”

“Yours,” Clarus said and then after a moment.  “I’ll bring supper.”

Cor let go of his neck and took a step back.  “I need to get back to the trainees.”  He would like to stay with him for a while longer, but he had a duty to perform.  He could indulge later in his scent and skin.

“I will instruct a further investigation and where I think we should focus our resources on what his parents had initially planned for Prompto.”  Clarus voice tensed again and his stern face returned.

“Whatever it was, I believe his path has been diverted.  He is way too innocent to be into subterfuge and no one is that good at acting,” Cor said as he straightened his uniform, even though nothing was out of place.  “And get out of my chair.”

“You really should get a more comfortable chair for your guests, if you can’t even sit in it for five minutes.” Clarus accused.

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head.  He chose to ignore the comment on his furnishings.  Everyone commented on his choice of décor.  “I will expect you at seven with a bucket of chickatrice and an extra order of gravy and maybe,” he opened his door, “I will ensure that you will enjoy the furnishings.”

He walked out his office and went back to his job hearing the music of Clarus laughter.

 

* * *

 

 

 

It was like things were back to normal.  Noctis was glad to have Prompto with his legs draped over his as they played one of their video games.  He had been so worried the last week and had missed him something fierce when he would hide in his room, afraid to offend everyone with his smell and how he reacted to their scents.

Ignis and Gladio were talking in the kitchen as they cleaned up after dinner, grape soda on the table, and the room smelled like freshly baked cinnamon rolls.  It was not as strong as it was in the hospital but whenever Prompto was close, he could smell it.   When he was in a room over he knew that Prompto was there.

Seeing him in the hospital bed with the mask and tubes in his arms again scared him.  He didn’t sleep properly until he was back at Ignis and able to text him on a regular basis again.  He cornered Doctor Audientis and asked him as many questions as he could think of to understand what Prompto was going through.

The big thing was that he wanted to make sure he was doing the right stuff in supporting him.  He wanted Prompto to happy.  “Keep being his friend,” the doctor said and sent him on his way.

The same advice that Ignis kept telling him.

But he felt like he should be able to do more.  He was a prince and had tons of resources at his fingertips and there wasn’t anything else he could do to make sure that he was okay.

“Noct?”

He blinked and looked over at Prompto.  “You sleeping with your eyes open?”  The blond smiled at him and took the controller from his hands.  “You have been at the game over screen forever.”

“Just thinking,” he responded and didn’t fight as Prompto started to replay the level he died on.

“Thought I smelled something burning?”  Gladio said as he walked into the living room.

“Funny guy,” Noctis grumbled.  “Aren’t you gone yet?”

“Soon.  Ignis is finishing up cleaning _your_ mess and leaving you summarized notes for tomorrow.  Make sure you get some rest Prompto.  I’m teaching tomorrow.”  Gladio crossed his arms.  “Don’t let him keep you up late.”  He knew he was directing that comment to Prompto and an insult all rolled into one.   The bastard was smirking as he said it.

“Like that’s a challenge,” Noctis countered.

“I would say so since your last training session you spent most of it on your ass, Princess,” Gladio taunted and winked at him.  He had nothing to throw at him, and seriously thought about pulling out one of Ignis daggers out of his armiger.

“You were fighting dirty,” Noctis defended. 

“Whatever makes you feel better.”  Gladio unfolded his arms as Ignis approached.  He obviously was done whatever paperwork he was doing.  “All done.”

“Yes.  Noctis.  We will be on our way.  I will be here at eight to make you breakfast and we will be leaving at nine,” Ignis said.

“I have the alarm set,” Prompto announced without even looking up from the game screen.

“It’s good to see one person responsible.    Good night, majesty.  Good night, Prompto.”  Ignis put his hand on Gladio arm.  Noctis was always amazed at how they seemed to talk to each other without words.  Gladio would nod.  Ignis would do something with his eyes and it was a full conversation.   They had been able to do it for as long as he could remember, and it was annoying.  Clarus and his dad could do that too.  That was more annoying.

He waved them off as they went arm in arm out the door.  He turned his attention to Prompto and his hands that were resting on his legs.  Prompto focused on the game, his brow furrowed, and his lip worried beneath his teeth in concentration.   He was so glad that Ignis was letting him stay over.  His advisor did not allow it, citing that he needed to rest properly.  “I’m glad you well enough to stay over again.  I missed you.” 

“Missed me?”  Prompto glanced at him before his eyes turned back to the screen.  “I was a phone call away and you saw me every day.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t the same,” Noctis said.   He didn’t know how to explain that he felt useless sitting in the side lines not being able to help or make him feel better.  “You know.”

Prompto smirked.  “I think I do.”  Prompto adjusted himself on the couch so that he was stretched out more than before. 

Noctis laughed.  “You look comfortable.”

“I am,” Prompto smiled brightly.

There was a lump in his throat as he couldn’t find the next words to say.  It was a good thing that he didn’t have to as he turned on his side and concentrated on the game again.  He rested his hand on his leg and enjoyed his company. 

It didn’t take him long to get sleepy and he watched the game and Prompto.  It wasn’t even that late, but it had been so long since he had a good night sleep.  “Dude, it’s only eight!”

He looked over to Prompto and blinked sleepily.  “Sorry.”  He threw his head back against the cushion of the couch.  “Sitting in meetings is really tiring.”

“Dude, I had Cor staring and judging me all day,” Prompto said and swung his legs off the couch and his lap and left him feeling cold.  “All day.  He was always standing with his arms crossed and this huge frown on his face.”

“He’s got a resting bitch face.  Just like Clarus does.  They are the RBF buddies,” Noctis explained.   Prompto looked horrified.  “What.  It’s true.”

“You can’t stay that about the Immortal or the Shield!  They protect your father.”  Prompto said.

“Yeah.  I’ve seen them both getting drunk with my dad, so,” Noctis waved his hands, “You know.  They are the gruff on the outside by fluff on the inside kind of people.”

Prompto raised his eyebrow and gave him a skeptical look.  “Clarus would take me fishing when he would take Glaido.  Cor would give me piggyback rides when dad could not.  They look like assholes but aren’t.”

Prompto laughed.  “Well, I guess they have to keep up the public persona.  I have seen Clarus holding a Princess Pink backpack and fairy wings as he waited for Iris.  I mean, it was strange to see such a gruff man standing outside a dance studio waiting for his daughter surrounded by the other dance moms.”

“That’s nothing!  I’ve seen Gladio wear the wings,” Noctis said.  “He wrecked them and had to buy Iris new ones.  I will have to dig up the pic.”  Prompto laughed and the sound made his chest swell.   “Why don’t we go watch a movie in the bedroom?  This way if I fall back asleep, we don’t have to move.”

Prompto’s eyes went wide and he looked at the door to his bedroom.  He chewed his lip again, “I don’t know.   I should use the spare room, shouldn’t I?”

Noctis shook his head.  “No.  I haven’t sleep well in a week.”  He got off the couch and held his hand down to Prompto.  “Come on.  We’ll watch a couple episodes of Throne Games.  We are so behind and at the risk of spoilers.”

The worry left his friends eyes and he took his hand to allow himself to be lifted off the couch.  “Fine, but, you need to wake up without me having to dump out of the bed in the morning.”

“Deal.”  They shuffled to the bedroom.  Prompto fiddled with the video player and Noctis pulled the blankets down, already feeling calmer as he knew that Prompto was going to be safe at his side for the night.

Noctis was asleep and pressed against his friends’ side before half way through the first episode.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pack thoughts

Gladio noticed a change in how people acted around Prompto.  It was subtle, but still a change.   It bothered him.  It bothered him more that it should.  He frowned at how some of Prompto’s training partners would lean into him as they took a break, or drape over his shoulders.  How they would sit closer than they should, and they would sniff the air around him when he wasn’t looking.

It wasn’t right.

Gladio could pick out his scent from across the room showing Prompto was happy and content at what was occurring.  He was not happy how to see how Salire was leaning against the blond as they waited for the next round of demonstration sword play.

“You have a horrible case of RBF today.”

If they weren’t in, he would have hit Noctis in the back of his head for that comment.

“You look like your dad.”

“Shut up, dweb,” he growled back at the Prince who was at his side.  He was going to add twenty laps to their next workout.

“Can’t deny it.  You’re turning into your father,” Noctis whispered back and dug his bony elbow into his side.  “Now, lets hurry this up so we can get out of these stuffy clothes.”  Noctis tugged at the sleeve of his suit. 

He rolled his eyes and put his hand on the back of the Prince as they walked forward.  Today was the day that Noctis was to observe the new trainee Glaives.  It was part of the protocols that he would help pick out a member for his Crownsguard.  Noctis thought it was stupid as everyone knew that he was going to pick Prompto and Salire.

“Why do I have to come here to make my pick?”  Noctis said as the group of trainees were going through some standard practices poses.  “This is so stupid.”

Ignis on the other side of Noctis, “If you read the files, you would have a clue.”

Noctis stood up straight and side-eyed Ignis.   “I read the files.  I already know which three I think will work.  I watched the tapes and talked with Cor.  I hate all this show and pomp.”  He was using his ‘council voice’ as he spoke.  Gladio was pleased to see Ignis face go through a journey.  First, he was shocked which was quickly replaced by pride before going back to neutral.  He wished he had Prompto camera to document it.  It was not often that Noctis shocked Ignis nor did Ignis show the pride in how most-of-the-time bratty prince showing signs of the king that he was destined to be.

“Good,” Ignis said and adjusted his glasses.  “Now, why don’t we watch for a bit to make sure your selection is correct.”  Gladio watched as Noctis rolled his eyes but smiled and shook his head as they went about the chore of watching them trainees perform and how they all doted on Prompto.  How he was greeted with more touches than before, more looks, and more smiles than there had been in the past.  He had himself half convinced that he was imagining it until one of the trainers put his hand on Prompto’s back to guide him to the next part of the show.

It was Ignis that jabbed him in the ribs and whispered harshly in his ear, “Chill the alpha mode with the recruits.”

“I’m not in alpha mode,” he countered.

“Your hair is almost standing on end,” Ignis said in a rushed whisper. 

He grunted and crossed his arms as he turned his attention back to show that was being put on for their benefit.   Noctis didn’t seem bothered by what was going on nor was Ignis.  Maybe they were just better at hiding it.  Maybe he shouldn’t be as affected as he was at the thought of others touching Prompto.

Prompto could handle himself in most situations so there was no need to be protective of him, but that didn’t stop Gladio for feeling like he _should_ protect him.  He was Noctis shield, not Prompto’s.  He knew part of the reason he was protective was the fact that Prompto has been through so much shit in the last little while that he wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t go through any of that again.  Another part was the fact that he was Noctis best friend and Noctis would hurt if he was hurt again.   He also knew that Ignis would be upset if Prompto got hurt.

It was complicated.

Swords were drawn, guns were shot, and recruits ran.  The regular routine for a royal show and it was going well.  He had a hand in training these people and they were all worthy to serve the royal family.   Some he liked more than others and the ones that Prompto had picked up as a friend’s, were good choices.

But they didn’t need to be so … doting.

“You’re doing it again,” Ignis said as he placed a hand briefly on his arm and leaned into him.

“Am not,” he defended a little to loudly as a few heads turned his way.  He straightened his back and glared back at Ignis who was giving him a smug, knowing smirk.  “Noctis’ getting away.”

Noctis was walking towards the recruits and Prompto.  Ignis shook his head and followed his ward. 

Gladio stayed behind a few steps and Cor stood at his side.  “He’s right, you know.  You’re going alpha.”  Cor said directly.  “No need to be protective of him here.  He’s safe here.  Both of them.”

“I know,” he grumbled.  He didn’t think he was being that obvious but if Cor noticed, he obviously didn’t hide his feelings well enough. 

Cor gave a quick snort and Gladio could _hear_ the eye roll.  “You’re developing quite an interesting pack,” Cor said and walked away from him and begin running the recruits through another set of drills.

The statement sent an electrical shock through his body.  Gladio wanted to yell after him and ask him what he meant by that.  Cor was not talking about his six pack, but a bonding pack.   He didn’t feel that way about Prompto.  He was in love with Ignis, there was no doubt about that.  He was destined to protect and be Noctis shield.  He felt a strong friendship and kinship with Prompto. 

This was how packs started.  

At least that was what his mother always told him.

There was the notion that royalty wasn’t supposed to form packs.  In public, their relationships were always presented as a married couple: male and female, and alpha and omega.  Everything else was frowned upon.  Packs were not how they presented themselves to the world.   They were supposed to be better than their primal urges.

He was aware that they indeed have packs.  He knew his father had one before he married his mother.  He was also aware that the King was part of it.  He didn’t want or need to know any further details on that relationship.

Having Cor say that he was starting a pack … he rubbed his face and growled at himself. 

Turning his attention back to the recruits and the prince.  He didn’t have time to think about this right now.  There was the sound of the prince warping and he saw him dangling from the peak of the training room while Ignis stood with his hands on his hips and annoyed look on his face and the others were cheering and laughing at the scene.

Gladio’s initial concern surfaced again.

Salire was standing much to close to Prompto and so was one of the other female trainees.  He really wished Ignis would separate them.   He stood back and let the anger simmer as he tried not to let it show.  When Noctis warped back down beside Prompto the tension let up in his chest as they backed away from him as the Prince now stood at his side.

Ignis cocked his eyebrow at him and shook his head.  He clenched his jaw as Noctis showed off his sword work and Ignis showed his blades that they pulled out of the armiger with a lot of extra fan fair and show.

Noctis didn’t seem to mind this part of the show.

He was grateful when it was over, and the recruits went on their own way.   Cor escorted them back to their training where they would run more drills and Noctis went back with Ignis to his office.  He followed behind them hoping to catch lunch with his boyfriend.

Noctis quickly claimed the couch, collapsed face first and was soon asleep.  It always amazed him at how easily Noctis could sleep just about anywhere, very much like a cat.

“What did Cor say to you to get you riled up?”  Ignis asked as they settled in around the small table that Ignis usually had reports spread on.  Today it was a platter of meats, cheeses and grapes.  Ignis always preferred a light lunch and to snack throughout the day when he had the chance. 

“I need to work on hiding my emotions,” Gladio grumbled.

“Oh?” Ignis said with a smirk.  “Did it have to do with you displaying your alpha side today.”

Gladio covered his face and wished he could collapse onto the couch.  “I know it was dumb.  The way those guys were pawing at Prompto got me all going.”

“At Prompto?”  Ignis tilted his head to the side and stopped bringing a piece of chest to his lips.  “Well, I thought you were alphaing-out on Noctis, but on Prompto.  This is an interesting twist.”

“Shut up.  Cor was already going on about how I behaving as if were part of a pack.”   Gladio uncovered his eyes and looked at the passed-out form of the prince on the couch.   “I didn’t like people touching him.  He’s been through enough already, he doesn’t need to have people playing with his emotions.”  He looked back towards Ignis.  “Am I being stupid?”

When Ignis didn’t respond to his question he turned his attention back to him.  He was very still and in the process of grabbing a grape and his glasses slipping down his nose and his mouth open as if he was in the middle of saying something.  He tilted his head to the side and was staring at the wall.

“Iggy?”

“Pack?”  Ignis seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts and was able to blink a few times before pushing his glasses back up.

“Am I acting like that?”  Gladio asked.  “I want to protect all of you.  That’s not a bad thing, is it?”

Ignis blinked a few times more before clearing his throat.  “You have a distinct tendency to protect all those that you care about.   Noctis and I are more than capable enough to watch our backs.  Prompto will get there so you won’t have to have your hair stand on end.”  Ignis squared his shoulders and reached across the table to place a hand on his arm.  “Gladio?  Are you saying what I think you are?”

He blinked a few times as he searched Ignis face for what to say next.

“I’m not sure what I’m saying.”

Ignis pressed a finger against his lips and tapped it.  He hummed as he tilted his head.  “I believe I do know what your saying.”  Gladio waited for him to say more but he could tell that Ignis was plotting something.

“Can you tell me?” Gladio asked when he no longer could handle the silence.

“Ah, sorry.  Got lost in thought?”  Ignis gave himself a shake and straightened his glasses.  He looked over to where Noctis was drooling on the couch.   “Well, I know we had this conversation before about Noctis, maybe we should have one about Prompto as well.”

It had been a major part of their discussion when they decided that they wanted to be together.  Their roles with the royal family had always complicated all their other relationships that they had tried to have.  They both knew that Noctis would always be a priority and would always have to come first.  They also made the decision that if Noctis ever wanted to start a pack with either one of them, or asked for help with the heat, that they would.

Noctis never asked them.  Gladio was certain that Noctis was asexual because how he never seemed to be interested in sex.  He always went to refill his drinks or the bathroom during the sex scenes when it showed up on movies.  The prince never seemed to be interested.

Prompto on the other hand, Gladio was certain that he was bisexual.  Prompto was not shy about looking at women or showing his interest, and Gladio had seen look at men as well.   He was subtler about it, but he did.  He still remembers how he tripped over his own feet the first time that he met Nyx.  He had seemed Prompto’s eyes wander over other men’s butts and he was certain that he even eyed up Ignis the first time he saw him in work out clothes.  He had never seen Prompto give him a look though.

“I may not be his type,” Gladio said and rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh, he stares at your chest enough,” Ignis said and allowed his eyes to dip down in an unabashed glance at his open jacket.  “But I think Prompto may be more interested in Noctis.”  Ignis looked over to Noctis who had turned in his sleep in a position that impossibly more cat link and uncomfortable looking.  He shook his head and sighed.  “His back is going to be killing him after this.”

“He stares at my chest?”

“Oh, most certainly,” Ignis said, “And I think he runs behind you because he likes staring at your butt.”  He tried to say it with a straight face but the sparkle in his eyes and the twitch of his mouth told Gladio that he was trying not to laugh.

“Ah, that explains why you always are behind me then,” he joked back.  He knew it was true.  Ignis was not shy about appreciating his ass when they were in private.

“I take advantage of enjoying the view when I can,” Ignis jested.  “Now, I do have to get some work done while his majesty finishes his nap.”  He grabbed some more of the grapes and headed to his desk and started his computer.  He gave him a quick kiss and the promise of seeing him tonight for dinner at Noctis place before he went about his own day.

The brief conversation and protective feelings that he had for Prompto, Ignis and Noctis left him a lot to think about.  

  

* * *

 

The car ride was more painful that it needed to be.  He was certain that Ignis was hitting every pothole and taking the curves faster than he normally would have. “Remind me never to sleep on the couch again,” Noctis grumbled as he rolled his shoulders and tried to stretch his back.  It was not effective strapped into the back of the car.

Ignis chuckled quietly in the driver’s seat.  “You were very insistent on having your nap.”

Noctis grumbled but didn’t say anything else.   It was habit to complain about Ignis couch.  Ignis office couch was comfortable at first.  It always lulled him sleep with how soft it was.  His back never liked super soft things though for longer than an hour or so.  Not that he was really napping.

He had heard what Ignis and Gladio had talked about.

A pack?  With Prompto?  With Ignis?  With Gladio?

It was a turn that he was not expecting to even consider.  His life was laid out for him.  He was destined to be the one true king.  He may be allowed his own apartment and get to have a so-called normal life when he went to high school, but he was still the crown prince.  He was going to have to power the shield until he was destined to become one with the crystal. 

As much freedom as he was allowed, he never really had freedom.

Having a pack was not something he really thought about.  He thought he could possibly get married, most likely to Luna.  Luna would understand what he would have to do when the crystal called him.  Gladio and Ignis would understand.  They knew what his was calling was.  He was to be the King that was to save them from the darkness.

Not that he was sure what he was supposed to do to save the world, but he hoped it would allow him to destroy the crystal.

Hearing Ignis and Gladio talk so casually about a pack with him and including Prompto nearly made him jump off the couch but he didn’t.  They would accept if he asked them to be part of a pack.

He didn’t know what he felt about it.

And Ignis so casually saying that Prompto was into him _that way._

“Sire?”

Noctis blinked and focused on Ignis who was opening the door for him to get out of the car.  “Are you alright?”

“No.  I’m good.”  He said as he undid his seatbelt and struggled to get out of the car.

His back was really hurting him, and he absently took Ignis hand to walk to the elevator.

“Would you like a massage?” Ignis asked, his hand absently touching the small of his back.  It made Noctis jump.  It was nothing more than he had done in the past, but it sent a shock through him that he was not expecting.  He shook his head as they rode to his apartment.  “I’ll just put a heating pad on it.”  Ignis had given him massages before to press against the pressure points that would loosen his muscles.  Ignis was the only one that he trusted to do it.  The physiotherapists would always make it worse instead of helping him like they always said they would.

“I will make some roast graula sandwiches for supper.  I’ll make salad for the rest of us, and ensure you have some fries.”  Ignis said absently.  “It will be an hour before Prompto and Gladio arrive, you can have a shower or bath if you wish.  That would help your muscles out more than the heating pad.”

They passed one of his guards that gave them a nod before the turned the corner to his apartment.  Ignis greeted him with his name and told him to expect two more visitors.   Noctis was already at the door and eager to get inside.  He went to the bathroom and decided that a shower was what he needed after all.

He could always think better in the shower and then he would like down with the heating pad.

The shower was a great place to think.  Once he was under the warm spray, his thoughts slowed down, the ache in his back lessened and he was able to breathe. 

Ignis and Gladio were always there for him.  Always.  He would admit that they were good looking guys.  You had to be blind not to see that they were handsome.  He never really thought about having sex with them though.  Gladio and Ignis had been in a relationship for a couple of years and he thought they were good for each other.  Ignis calmed down and was able to relax, and Gladio was not as much of an asshole as he was before.

Seeing them both happy and content made him feel good and safe.

And Ignis proclamation that Prompto was interested in him as more than a friend.

Was he?

That was the question.  People had only ever been interested in him because he was a Prince.   Prompto only ever treated him like he was a person from the beginning.  He was never, ‘highness’ or ‘majesty’ with him. 

He enjoyed snuggling up against him on the couch and in bed.  Did he want more?   Did Prompto want more?  He knew Prompto liked girls.  They had looked at various model Instagram posts of models and most of them were women.  Ignis and Gladio seemed to think that he was interested in guys. 

Did he look at other men?

Ignis and Gladio were much more built than he was and were better to look at than him.  

His head started to hurt with the thoughts.  The shower was not helping him think as he hoped it would.

Sex was never something he thought of outside of his rut.  He was expected to be with a woman.  The only woman that he was close to being interested in as a person was Luna, buy he hadn’t seen her since he was eight. They had shared pictures, but they had left that unspoken between them.

He was confusing himself more over this whole situation.

A knock on the door and Ignis voice told him that supper was going to be ready soon.  He hadn’t washed anything while he stood in there.  He had spent all his time trying to figure out if this was a direction his life would go.

Did he want a pack? 

Maybe.

But he didn’t want to hurt anyone.  He knew there would be a day that he would have to answer the call of the Astrals.  He would leave them behind.  A broken pack was not something that he wanted to have as part of his legacy.

He got dressed in his sleep clothes and when he walked out of the bedroom he couldn’t help but smile.

Gladio was getting his hand swatted as he tried to sneak some of the smoked meat.  Ignis was telling him to set the table and eat like a civil human.  Prompto was smiling brightly he was already pulling plates from the cupboard.

It was all very domestic and calm.

Everything that his life was not destined to be.

Would this be what having an official pack would be?

“Did you even dry your hair?” Ignis inquired as he swatted at Gladio’s hand again with a wooden spoon.  There was a look in his eyes that threatened Gladio with daggers for the next attempt.

“I’m good,” he said and took his chair at the table and grabbed a can of grape soda that was already chilled and ready for him.

Would it be different than how things were already?

Prompto draped himself over his shoulder.  His weight strained his sore back, but he didn’t complain.  He smelled strongly of cinnamon rolls and he enjoyed it more than he was willing to admit.  “Today was so awesome, dude.  I was on the top of my game,” he bragged.  “When I get access to the royal magic, will I be able to do that warp-zoom-zoom thing?  I’ve never seen Ignis or Gladio do that?  Can you guys do that?”  Prompto let go of him and bounded over toward Gladio and Ignis.

“Warping is not one of the skills I gained from the royal magic,” Ignis stated.  “I do have a strong aptitude for magic and healing.” 

Gladio clamped his hands down on Prompto’s shoulders to keep him still.  “It sure helps with carrying my swords around.  Now, you’re not allowed expresso ever again.”

“It was only a single shot,” Prompto whined.

“You’re literally vibrating!” Gladio protested and twirled him around, picked him up, and sat him down in his normal chair across from him.  Prompto may be protesting but he was smiling and wiggling the whole time he was being manhandled even if Noctis was sure that he was blushing.

“It was so much better than plain coffee,” Prompto said.  His leg was bouncing, and he was twisting in his seat.  He was high on caffeine and adrenalin and it was adorable.

Raising an eye brow at his own thoughts. Did he think that Prompto was cute?  Did he like the way his eyes sparkled and when he smiled the whole room lit up.  Did he like how he looked in the morning all sleepy and dragging his feet?  Did he like the way that he could drape across his lap and run his hands through his hair?  Did he like resting his head on his chest to hear his heart beat?

The answer to all those questions was a resounding, yes.

“What’s that smile about?” Gladio asked with a mouth full of a sandwich.

“Nothin’,” he responded and immediately scrunched his nose at the plate of salad that was place by his sandwich.  “Iggy,” he whined, “You promised me fries!”

“Yes, I did.  They are still in the oven.  You should at least attempt some of the salad.”  Ignis pushed the plate closer and he had felt so repulsed by the plate that he backed away from it.

“So cruel,” Gladio voice was thick with amusement.

“I’ll sacrifice myself for the prince,” Prompto said in a fake pomp tone.  “And I love this poppy seed dressing.”  Prompto grabbed the plate and stabbed at the horrible leaves with his fork.

“My hero,” Noctis said with a laugh at how disappointed and amused Ignis looked.

They were already his pack.

  

* * *

 

The last of the dishes were washed, the food put away, and the sound of a movie and flickering of the television was all that there was.  Ignis leaned heavily against Gladio’s side with his arm around his shoulders and he watched Noctis absently play with Prompto’s hair as he dozed in front of the movie.  He doubted that the prince even realized that he was doing it.

After the caffeine wore off, Prompto promptly crashed hard and was barely awake through the opening credits.

Prompto balanced out Noctis.  They were opposites in so many ways and that made it easy for them to be friends and find their common ground together.  Something that they did naturally and easily.

Gladio scruff brushed against his cheek.  “You need to shave,” he whispered.

“You love it.”

He did, but Gladio was never going to get him to say it.

“Leaving Prom behind, I guess?” Gladio asked and his hand squeezed his shoulder and brought him impossibly closer.

Ignis nodded.  He knew he would arrive early in the morning with Prompto already dragging Noctis out of bed, and if it was a good morning, he would be already dressed.  “It will be easier than prying him out of his majesty’s lap.”

Gladio chuckled and his deep rumble calmed him.  “I bet we could leave, and they wouldn’t notice.”

“Are you staying over, or do you have to go home?” Ignis asked and hoped that he could stay with him.  He enjoyed it more than he could ever show that he enjoyed his company and waking up with him warming his bed.

His lips grazed against his ear.  “Staying over sounds like a good idea.”  The larger man gave him a kiss on the cheek.  “Where ever you are is my home.” The simple statement caused a quick rush through his whole body and before he could calm his feelings.  Gladio abruptly pushed him to his feet and his voice boomed through the room.  “That’s enough boys!  Bed!”  Prompto nearly fell from Noctis lap as the prince jumped at the loud sound.

“What the fuck!?”  Noctis yelled back.

“Language, highness,” Ignis said on reflex.

“Wha?”  Prompto said and rubbed his eyes and blinked at them.

Gladio urged them off as they both stumbled over their own feet and leaned on each other.  He could understand Gladio’s protective urges.  He felt them too.  He wanted to ensure that they were safe, happy, and well fed.

A pack dynamic was already started even though he had not noticed it before today and Cor’s subtle comment.  He was not as observant as he might have been about his own situation.

He was not sure if he wanted more.  He was quite content with Gladio as his lover and never felt the need.  He went to go get his shoes, but he was quickly ushered to the guest room.  “We can all use some sleep.”  Gladio’s tone was soft and caring.  Normally he would have argued that he wanted to be in his own bed, but quickly realized Gladio was right.

Home was where ever he – they- were.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto has a bad day and gets to hug it out.
> 
> ... and then stuff happens.

An ice pack on his eye numbed the pain from being hit in the face with a bat.  He knew it was not intentional, but it didn’t help when he had already used his potion that he was allotted for the day.

He was grateful that he hadn’t ended up in the hospital again.  He still hated how familiar he was with the first-aid room. 

“I’ve named all the stains on the ceiling,” he muttered.  He could hear the nurse chuckle beside him.  There was Blobby, Slobby, with their baby stain, Slug.  They were staring down the other group of stains; Chip, Dip, and Glob.

The two stain families did not get along.

“You’ll be fine, Mr. Argentum,” he said and went about shuffling paper.

He thought he had improved with the melee for the day.  He had been able to land a few blows, dodge a few attacks and be useful in the training melee. 

But then that bat hit him in the face.

Marcus had apologized for how hard he swung it.  It wasn’t his fault really.   He had been distracted.

Since he got his scent back, he was _noticing_ people more.  He was attracted to both boys and girls.  He had figured out that he was bisexual before he knew that he was an omega.  He hadn’t told anyone of those preferences and thought he was pretty good at hiding it.

Dealing with being an omega is one thing but being gay was just the icing on top of the cake.  His parents would have been horrified.  When he was young, his mother always talked about grandbabies and which of her friends had a daughter that was perfect for him.  That was until they found out he was an omega.  He couldn’t tell them that he was different in yet another way, and he didn’t want Noctis to be horrified that he liked guys.

He knew better now.  The Prince wouldn’t shun him because he liked boys and girls.  He was not bothered by Ignis or Gladio’s sexual orientation and he was certain that they would not be bothered at all by this revelation.

With the increased awareness of the all the attractive and sweet-smelling people around him, he noticed an increased libido.

It was hard with three of the most beautiful friends always around him and one of them that liked to remove his shirt at every opportunity he could.   Gladio was always at Ignis apartment and took off his shirt after he went for a run.  His sweat pants would always hang low on his hips and a radiant smile.  Ignis was not as bad but he was always the best dressed man in the room even when he still had a bedhead and needed another cup of coffee.  Noctis wasn’t helping either with the fact that every time he stayed over, he would cuddle up close to him and fall asleep against him and the off-hand remark of where he said that he slept better when he was with him. 

He woke up from a few dreams that involved at least one of them; sometimes more.

It was weird to think of his friends that way.   It was even weirder to think that they were almost encouraging it.  Gladio winked at him all the time and flexed his pec’s when he was looking.  Ignis was always there with a kind word and warm smile.  Noctis seemed clingier when he slept over than before. 

He had to be imagining it though because they couldn’t be that into him like that.  It was just his hormones trying to figure out what was going on and making everyone seem more attractive.  His heat was theoretically one month away.

Which worried him.

He was terrified how he would act without the medicine that his parents had been giving him.  Would he throw himself at the nearest person that smelled nice or smiled at him?

How was he supposed to take that?  He realized that he had said it before and it was true.  Even Ignis had said that Noctis was better when he was around.

What did that mean?

He had lost sleep over it.  Often when Noctis was draped over him, sleeping soundly.  Which was something that friends normally didn’t do.  Right?

He was a mess and didn’t know what to make of it.  All the random thoughts were overwhelming him.   Normally during training, the physical exertion was enough to keep him thinking about if he was infatuated with his friends.  Today all he could think about was how Gladio had looked during this morning run as he used his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face, how Ignis had bent over to pick some books and the stupid texts while only wearing his sleep shorts.  The man had legs for days.  Noctis had sent him a picture asking him if he should wear the black t-shirt with the skulls or the black button-up shirt with the skulls.   He had been posing with both in front with a stupid smile on his face.

Distracting to the max.

“How’s your head feeling now?”  The nurse asked.

“Like I got hit with a bat,” he groaned and removed the ice pack.  He blinked his one good eye and couldn’t open the other one.  “I shouldn’t have wasted the potion on my ankle.”

“Ice it again when you get home to keep the swelling down,” the nurse said.  “Did you call Mr. Scientia?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to call him?”

“No.  I’ll call a ride,” He didn’t want to bother them with every time that he gets injured or an illness. 

“Are you sure, Mr. Argentum?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled and slowly sat up.  He wasn’t dizzy, but he did have a horrible headache.  His plan was to go home, have a shower and pass out and forget the day even happened.  One thing about joining the glaive he was grateful for was the fact that they had driver services, so he didn’t have to scrape together the money for a cab.

He pulled out his phone and texted Ignis.

He had been lucky most of the time to get a ride home, but he was hoping to hide his black eye until morning to prevent the unending questions that would come out of it.

Ignis probably would dig up a potion.

He didn’t deserve another potion for being so forgetful and distracted.  Especially when Ignis would dote on him through the whole thing.  If Gladio came over, he would do the same.

He caught his reflection in elevator door and covered his eye with the half thawed out ice pack.  He looked awful, pale and pathetic with the dark bruise on his face.  There was no way he was going to leave his room.

The elevator alerted him to the garage and he went to get a driver to take him home.  He had to endure questions about his eye and if he was okay.   He laughed and assured them that he was fine and tried to hide the fact that his pride was more hurt than anything else.

Arriving home, he was very grateful to be alone for once.  He doctored himself up with a large glass of water, a pain killer and a new ice pack from the freezer.  He went to his room and laid on his bed with the pack over his eye.  His phone pinged a few times and he assumed that it was from Ignis. 

He reached for the phone but didn’t take the ice pack off his black eye.  The cold felt good on the hot bruise.

He knew he was avoiding answering Ignis question if he was alright.   It was a huge blow to his ego today to become so distracted that he got walloped in the eye.

Looking at his phone app, he made sure that he wasn’t misreading when his next predicted heat was supposed to be.  He hoped he wasn’t going to heat early.

He didn’t have a plan to deal with it yet.

Was he going to hide in his room?  Did he want to ask for _help?_   But who would he ask for help from?  He couldn’t ask Noctis, or Ignis, or Gladio.  They were the only true friends that he had that he trusted.  Sure, there were a lot of guys and girls in the glaive trainees that he could ask but he wasn’t that close to them that he would trust them to go to bed with him.

His toy was still hidden away in a box under his bed and the thought of having that being the only thing that he had to help him made the pit of his stomach drop.   

During his continued counselling sessions with Doctor Audientis he had talked about how he was going to deal with his heat and it hadn’t been able to decide what the best course of action was.

There was no way he could ask any of them to help with his heats.  They were so much more handsome and better than he was.  He was scrawny, prone to injury and unable to take care of himself.  What if he lost control?  What if he turned into a blathering idiot.  Well, more than a blathering idiot than he already was.

Adjusting the ice pack so it covered both of his eyes and sighing at himself.  No matter how many dreams or fantasy’s that he had he was not worth anyone of his friends, trainee’s or any one else for that matter.

“I’m such a loser,” he moaned and threw the ice pack across the room.

He instantly regretted it as it shattered against his desk spreading some white slush all over the corner of his desk and floor.

He let out an inarticulate scream of frustration.  “Idiot,” he mumbled to himself as he got out of the bed.  “How am I going to even clean this stuff up?”  Staring at the mess wasn’t working and it took him a few moments to get a roll of paper towels, so he can clean up the mess he made.

The slush was difficult to clean-up and smeared and stuck to everything as he wiped it away and threw the remains in the trash.  He cleaned it up as much as the pain in his head would allow.  He would clean it up better after he had a nap.

He got a fresh ice pack to put it over both of his eyes as he crawled into his bed.

His phone pinged again but he was too tired to answer it.  He would deal with it when he woke up.

It was the sound of Ignis voice that woke up from his nap.  It was his kind voice calling from the other side of the door announcing that there was food ready.  It took a few more minutes for him to understand that he could hear Gladio too.  His deep timbre chuckle made him feel warm and comfortable.  The light tone of Ignis telling Gladio to get the soy sauce out of the fridge. 

Stumbling out of his room and into the shared dining room, he yawned loudly and started to greet his friends.   Ignis was sitting at the table and Gladio was in the process of sitting down.  Gladio’s face went from calmness to fury.  Prompto was frozen in spot as Gladio charged toward him and grabbed his arm with one hand and put his large hand against his cheek.  “What happened?”

He blinked and was trying to figure out what he was talking about as Gladio’s thumb rubbed gently against the bruise on his face.

Then he remembered why had been napping.

“Oh!  Nothing really,” he said and attempted to pull away from Gladio’s touch but held him firm and his clenched his jaw.  “Had a bad day at training.”

Gladio grunted, “It looks like you got hit by a bat.”  The air suddenly sparkled with blue and a bottle appeared in Gladio’s other hand and broke it over him.

“I already used my potion for the day!” he protested as he pulled out of Gladio’s grasp.  His eye suddenly felt better and the vision that he didn’t realize was blurry was clear now.

“Well, I hadn’t!”  Gladio said sharply as the last of the blue shards of the armiger disappeared from the air.

“Did they check you for concussion?”  Ignis was suddenly beside him and the same worried tone and appearance as Gladio.

“Yes.  I was tired and distracted is all when Marcus swung the bat.  I went to medical and had a nap.”  He pulled away from them. He was glad for the potion because he did feel better, but they didn’t need to coddle him. 

“You’re allowed to use more than one potion,” Gladio said and crossed his arms and looked down at him.

“I don’t have money for more potions!”  He realized he had raised his voice and Ignis was looking shocked at him.  “I barely have enough money to pay for my phone and some of the food.  I don’t have anything to offer for rent or anything else.  I had to buy a uniform and all that and that is where it all went.”

Gladio’s anger melted.   Ignis tried to touch his arm but he backed away.  “Prompto, you know that …”

He waved his hands and shook his head. “You guys have done enough for me.  Okay,” he whispered and looked at them both.  They both looked shocked and stood their ground.

“I don’t want to look like I’m getting special treatment because I’m the Prince best friend or living with his advisor or working out with his shield on a regular basis.  I appreciate everything that you guys have done since I moved out of my parent’s place.”  Prompto took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “Okay.”

He felt like an idiot for talking to them like this.  “I’m not used to people worrying me about like this all the time.”  His stomach felt like there was a rock in it as he looked at his feet.  “I thought you would be bored of me by now.”

After all, he was _fixed_ now.  His parents only paid attention to him when they were _fixing_ him.  That was the only time that he ever had been paid attention too.

Arms surrounded him, and he was being hugged tightly and pressed against a very warm body.  It was Ignis. He gasped and wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do next.  Should he hug him back?  Before he could make up his mind on what he was going to do a heavier weight was surrounding him and he could smell flowers.

“Shit, Prom,” Gladio’s voice rumbled.  “You don’t bore us.”

“Ever.” Ignis added and his hand rubbed his back and squeezed him tighter.  He allowed his head to fall forward and rest against his rather firm chest and allowed himself to be hugged and held by two of his friends.  He allowed himself to be held for longer that would be appropriate, but it made him feel better.

“I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry,” Ignis soothed as his hand went into his hair.  He really liked it when Ignis did that.  It was relaxing and comforting.  He allowed himself to lean against him a little harder.  “I thought there was something wrong when you didn’t blow up my phone requesting extra sashimi or spring rolls.”

“We did get extra, because we know you love the stuff,” Gladio added and left the hug.  He already missed how he made the hug feel more secure.

Ignis started to run his fingers moving through his hair.  It was soothing and calming.  “Do you want to tell us what distracted you?”

“Not really.  It was dumb,” Prompto said into Ignis chest.  He could smell the soothing scent of caramel and coffee.  He closed his eyes and was able to hear Ignis heart beating a little to fast against his ear.

“It’s always dumb stuff,” Gladio grumbled.

“Gladio!”  Ignis said sharply as his hands tightened in his hair.

“No!  Not like that!”  Gladio said quickly.  “Being distracted and getting hurt is always dumb stuff.  Like when I twisted my ankle because Iris yelled about forgetting her back pack.”

Ignis hummed and lessened his grip.  Prompto chuckled at the answer.  Even though his dumb stuff was partly the men in the room and the stupidly handsome dumb prince.  Not that he could admit it to them.  He didn’t want to lose his friendship because he had a stupid crush on people that were nice to him.

“That’s why you twisted your ankle,” he whispered and looked over to Gladio.  He thought it was more dramatic than that.  The story that Noctis had told him had something to do with sparing with Cor.

“She screamed!”  Gladio defended as he threw his hands out in front of him.  “Loudly.”

Ignis let him go with a pat on the back and a smoothing of his hair.  “It was rather humorous how you respond when you think Iris is in distress even though she is as skilled as you in battle even at her younger age.”

Gladio looked offended as he crossed his arms.  “She’s still a kid.  I cut her slack when we train.”

“Uh-huh,” Ignis said with a smirk as he walked to the table.  “Now, let’s eat.”

Gladio defended himself admiralty throughout dinner and the conversation made his heart lighter.  Not having a black eye helped him feel better and having the nap cleared his head.  “Iris has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?”  Prompto teased and was given a heavy pout and putting his head on the table from Gladio and a chuckle from Ignis.

“This is why I have extra potions in the armiger,” Gladio mumbled into the table.  His amber eyes looked up at him.  “So, if you need an extra, give me a call.  You can always use mine.” 

Prompto smiled and nodded.  “As long as it is not a bother.”

“Noctis is the bother,” Gladio said and twitched violently.  He turned to glare at Ignis who must have kicked him under the table.  “Ignis always has a supply of Potions hiding in the bottom drawer in his bedroom.  Ow!  Seriously Iggy.  Why are you still wearing your pointy shoes?”

“For occasions such as these.”  Ignis tone was icy but there was amusement in his green eyes.  “You can clean up the dishes as atonement.”

Gladio rolled his eyes and stuffed one of the last Altissa rolls into his mouth.  “Sure thing, babe.”

 

* * *

 

Cor rested forehead in his hands and took a couple of cleansing breaths.  The information that was uncovered was even more disturbing than he could have anticipated.   He should have anticipated it going in this direction.

The barcode that he thought he kept hidden from everyone eye should have been the clue.  He had seen similar codes in the installations in Niflehiem in younger years; on the bodies of the soldiers and men that he cut down in his path.

“Cor?”

Clarus was standing in front of his desk with a heavy scowl.

“Tell me.”

“Do you remember the report on the speculation of human experimentation in Neflihiem?”  Cor said and cleared his throat.  “It appears that Prompto was one of the experiments.”

He couldn’t look at Clarus but he heard him gasp and the chair scratch against the floor.  “How is that possible?”

The answer to that question was not clear.  “I have read this over a few times and I can’t make to much sense of it.  Doctor Mar talked to me about this and summarized it as he was made and that his is serial number is that tattoo he keeps hidden on his arm.”

“He’s not a machine.”

“I think he was …” Cor waved his hand around as he tried to pull the correct words out, “… programable?”  The talk with the doctor had been confusing and had left his head spinning.  He was sure that he didn’t understand half of the information presented in the document or how she had tried to explain it to him.

“How is that possible?”  Clarus stood up from the chair that he collapsed on the floor with a loud clank.  He looked over to see that his uncomfortable chair was now broken under his feet. 

“Why are you asking me?”  Cor snapped.

“You have the report in front of you!”  Clarus growled back.

“And it is full of garbage that I don’t understand!”  Cor yelled and stood from his chair.  There was no way he could hover over Clarus who was taller than him, but he wasn’t afraid to stand up to him.   He picked up the document and waved at the current Shield.  “This is more complicated than anything I could have thought of.”

“Does he have a hidden program to hurt the Prince?” Clarus asked.

Cor wanted to punch him.  “I just said that I don’t have the answers!  Doctor Mar is going to call him in for more tests so hopefully we can have an answer but quit asking me questions that I can’t answer!”  He growled as he slammed the document back down on the desk.  “And you are buying me a new chair!”

The silence was heavy in the room.  Cor tried to will his muscles to relax but everything was tense and Clarus stupid questions that he couldn’t answer didn’t help his mood.

Clarus evened his breath and blinked slowly at him.  “I’ll buy you a comfortable one at least.  And maybe a couch.  Your office is awful.”

The tension lessened in the room. 

“And then we can talk in a more civilized fashion when we have answers.” Clarus voice was calmer than before.  The scowl was gone from his face and he gave him a concerned look.   “This is really bothering you, isn’t it?”

“His world already was turned upside down once with hiding that he was an omega and I don’t want to be the one to pull him away from the prince.”  Cor said and rubbed his face.   “Noctis would be crushed if he lost his best friend.  Gladio and Ignis would defend him to the end of the earth.  I don’t want to be the responsible one for breaking up their pack.”

The smell of flowers reached his nose.

Clarus was standing up straight, “Pack?”

“Well, if they aren’t a pack, they are fast friends.  They will be crushed to be separated because… because Prompto can be programed,” Cor felt defeated.  This was not what he expected out of the investigation. 

He liked the kid.  He liked all the kids.  They weren’t really kids anymore but he would think of them of them like that.  He was already leading armies at their age.  Clarus arms wrapped around him and surrounded him with the comforting scent of flowers.  He never figured out what flower he smelled like.  It always seemed to shift.

It was welcome.

“It won’t come to that.”

Cor wanted to believe that too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN ... DUN ... DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN.
> 
>  


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto whump ... again.

Noctis had never been so furious in his life.  He was angry that he wasn’t allowed in with Prompto and they wouldn’t tell him what the tests were.  Even worse, they weren’t telling Ignis who just as anxious.

Clarus, Cor, and Gladio were arguing in the corner opposite where Ignis was arguing with the nurses.

He still didn’t have answers.

None.

He stood in the middle of the room and watched the two groups arguing, with his arms crossed and fumed.   The door was closed, and he couldn’t even warp in there to see what the hell was going on.

Ignis stalked away from the nurse and towards him.  “Highness,” Ignis sounded like he was supressing his anger, very much like how he felt.

“If the next words aren’t where I can see him, then you better not say anything!”  Noctis snapped.  The sun and set and there had been no communication or answers.  There should have at least told Ignis what was going on as he was listed as the emergency contact.

Ignis took beside him and was silent.

“This is so frustrating!”  Noctis threw his hands in the air.  “This is the dumbest thing in the world right now.  Why have they locked him away?  What are they doing to him?  This is the stupidest thing ever and I want it to stop.”  Ignis put a hand on his shoulder and pulled in him a half hug.   He relaxed against him and let out a sigh.

“Bullshit!”  Gladio roared from where the men were arguing.  Gladio looked like he was ready to hit his father or Cor.  His hands were bunched into fists and his shoulders were visibility tense even from this distance.

“I agree, Highness, but I do think we should take you home…”

“Nope.  Not leaving.”  Noctis was not leaving without his best friend.  If he left, he would be just staring at his phone and thinking about how Prompto was alone and probably scared.  He shouldn’t be in that situation at all.

“Highness,” Ignis started to argue but then he sighed heavily.  “I suggest you take a seat as this will surely take awhile to get answers.”

“I don’t like being stone walled like this,” Noctis said.

“Neither do I,” Ignis said and lead him to the couch in the corner of the waiting room.  He hated these couches.  He was going to make them buy more comfortable ones as they were the worst on his back.  He flopped down on it and alternated his glare between the nurse’s station and the three protectors of the crown.  Ignis went to join the conversation.

It was another twenty minutes before he heard Clarus below, “Enough!”  Everyone in the room stopped at the booming voice and command of the alpha protector of the crown.  The three men that were next to him took a step back and bowed their heads in reflex.  The nurses even pushed away from their desk.

He had only heard Clarus do that once before.  It was always humbling to see how people would respond to when Clarus or his father used that alpha-voice.

He didn’t hear what was said next but Ignis and Gladio came over towards him and Clarus and Cor disappeared behind the guarded doors.

Gladio threw himself on the couch and Ignis stood in front of them.

“So, nothing,” he grumbled.

“They are both being thick headed morons,” Gladio grumbled.

“I’m sure they have their reasons,” Ignis said with a clipped tone.

“They’re stupid reasons,” Noctis grumbled.

“We can’t judge them until they tell us what they are,” Ignis defended.

“Yeah, well, anything keeping Prompto away from me is a dumb reason.”  Noctis was starting to get angry again.  He thought of calling his father for an answer but knew that if Clarus was not speaking, he wouldn’t be speaking either.

They stewed in silence for awhile before Gladio’s stomach gurgled and popped in protest.  He at least looked ashamed that his stomach interrupted his thoughts.   Ignis went to get them all some food to eat as they waited.

Noctis was not going to move from the couch until he understood what was going on with his best friend.

 

* * *

 

 

Ignis jaw hurt from clenching his teeth so hard.  He wanted to yell at Clarus and Cor.  They had talked for an hour and he had nothing else to add.

“I have already told you what I had learned about the tattoo on his arm and the answer is not going to change no matter how you ask me the questions,” Ignis was curt and could see how Cor bowed his head at his tone.  Clarus did not back down.

“This is for the prince safety, Ignis,” Clarus said and straightened his back.  The room was rich with his scent and Ignis was not sure if it was because he was trying to push him or if he was annoyed.  He had guessed it was probably both happening.

“I don’t see how the misconceived actions of the people that marked his skin has anything to do with the prince security.”  Ignis had crossed his legs and glared at the two men.   Prompto was the furthest thing from a security risk and the men in the room should know it.

The tattoo had come up for discussion one night when he had made Gladio and Prompto were doing the dishes.   The wrist band that he normally wore got wet and he took it off.  When Gladio asked him what it was, Prompto seemed to shrink a bit and slapped a hand over it.

“It’s nothing,” Prompto had whimpered.  He looked like he wanted to crawl under the sink to get away from him as rubbed at the mark on his wrist.  “It … it was the reason that – um – I was adopted.”

They had quickly ushered Prompto to the couch and nervously sat there rubbing the markings on his arm.  Prompto’s scent spiked, and he looked like he had been trying to shrink in on himself. 

Prompto allowed Gladio to gently remove his hand and examine the tattoo that covered his wrist.  They were stark black lines and numbers that could have been on the back of a book.  Gladio ran his fingers over it and hummed.  “Smooth.” Gladio rumbled.   He had been gentle and calm about the actions that seemed to help Prompto calm down a bit.

That night was the first time he had a good look at the unfortunate markings.  The lines looked different than the lines that covered Gladio’s skin.   They seemed to be sharper and blacker.  It was a damn good tattoo if it lasted that long without any bleeding into softer black lines.

“How old were you when you got it?”  Ignis asked and leaned forward and watched Prompto’s to make sure that he wasn’t too uncomfortable about the question.  He had been wanted to ask before then, but he did not think that it was appropriate if he was not ready to bring it up. 

Prompto shrugged, “I really don’t know.  I was – um – I think two-ish or something.  Mom and Dad were really vague about that.  It was just easier to keep it covered up, so I wouldn’t have to look at it or think about it.”  Prompto pulled his arm back and rubbed his hand over it.  “I stopped asking about it.  I thought I would get enough money eventually to get it removed or covered up.” 

It still bothered Ignis that he thought those people that had taken care of him were his parents but there was nothing that he could do about that.

“My tattoo guy could do something with that.  When you’re ready,” Gladio offered, his voice thick and warm.  Ignis couldn’t help and smile at his gentleness and concern.

“It stupid.  I mean, who would tattoo a kid?” Prompto shook his head and gave a sad laugh.  Gladio didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around him until he protested that he was being smothered.  Prompto looked like he was going to cry but the tears didn’t fall.

They had talked a little bit more about the markings but Prompto didn’t know much about them.  He kept them covered up so that he wouldn’t have to look it and try to explain how screwed up his life was.

It was an evening that almost made Ignis want to take the ice cream out of hiding, even with Gladio present.  He was able to refrain but the next night he made sure that they both had a good portion of ice cream with chocolate sauce to make up for him being uncomfortable about the talk of the hidden tattoo.

“Do you know where he got the markings?”  Cor asked for what felt like the millionth time.

“I have answered this already.  I don’t know where he got it.  He states that he has had them as long as he can remember and no matter how many times you ask me, the answer I give you will not change.”  Ignis was frustrated and angry at the questioning.  “And the markings were given to him against his will or permission as a child.  It has nothing to do with the security of the prince.  I will always put the prince’s safety ahead of everything else and I do not like how you are doubting my sincerity in this matter.”

He stared directly at Clarus.  “You both have been asking me for the last hour expecting me to give an answer that I can’t possibly have.   I believe that I am the one that is owed the explanation on to why you have Prompto behind locked doors that you are baring from myself and his prince.”

Cor and Clarus looked at each other as if they were in a sitcom.

That was the last straw.

“I think you two owe me an explanation and quickly.”  Ignis snapped.  Normally, he would not be so demanding of the two men but with Prompto being sequestered away was getting on his last nerve.

Cor collapsed back in his chair and looked at the floor.  Clarus kept his eyes on him and his frown deepened.  It didn’t matter that he was a beta.  He was a strong beta, he had been trained with the best and had made alpha’s back down from him in his anger.

“You will have to wait until we have finished our inquisition,” Clarus countered.

“The Prince and I will be waiting to hear the results.”  He stood sharply.  Gave a curt bow that was not deep enough for the rankings that they had and turned on his heel.

He returned to the waiting room where Noctis slumped on the couch, hugging a pillow and looking miserable.   “Where’s Gladio?” He asked as he didn’t see his boyfriend anywhere.  There was an extra two Glaive at the entrance separating them from Prompto.

“Huh?”  Noctis looked up and wiped drool of his face.  “Oh.  Iris needed help with something.”  He adjusted himself but slumped back down. “Ugh.  So, like, what?”

Ignis sat opposite of him and had to resist the urge to slump himself.  It has been a trying day.

“I don’t have answers.”  Ignis mind was still reeling from the interrogation. 

Noctis grumbled something under his breath and sank further into the couch.  “They won’t tell me anything either.  I can’t even pull the ‘I’m a prince’ thing.” 

He rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly.  “Ig’s.  I’m not leaving until I have him back.”

Noctis sounded broken.  Ignis moved to site beside him on the couch and put his arms around his shoulders.  Noctis moved to sag against him as he lifted his legs on the floor.  “I will stay at your side.”

The prince grumbled something that Ignis didn’t understand and then let out a deep sigh.  Noctis didn’t lean on him as much as he had done before and for the first time, he realized he missed it.  The innocent closeness that they once had stopped when he started dating Gladio.   He would no longer fall asleep next to him trying to sooth his nightmares or allow him to lean against him when he was having a bad day.

Prompto had filled that role.  He was person that the prince turned to when he wanted to talk or had a bad dream.  Ignis had thought he had outgrown his nightmares, but he knew that was not the case.   The prince had just begun to text Prompto instead of him when he had one.  Someone that held his own interests beyond the crown.

The young man was exactly what Noctis needed.

He would not tolerate Prompto being taken away from them.

He hummed at the thought.  He had grown rather attached to the young man.  He thought having a roommate would be more taxing than it was, but he found he rather enjoyed having him around.  Prompto would wake up early, didn’t talk to him until he had a cup of coffee, could talk to him about work and bring a different point a view to the table.

His phone buzzed bringing him out of his thoughts.  Noctis had fallen asleep against him so he moved to reach it without disturbing him. 

As he looked up from his phone, the door opened to the secured wing.  Clarus emerged from the door.  Noctis instantly woke from his sleep and bounded to his feet and stood as tall as his obviously aching back would allow.

“Explain!”  Noctis commanded.  “Now.”

Ignis was impressed by Noctis tone and stance.  It was amazing at how quickly he was able to recover from his power nap.  He stood behind the prince and looked at the current shield expectantly.

“We had some,” Clarus rubbed the back of his head.  He had seen Gladio do that when he was trying to think of a word or avoid the question, “concerns.”

His jaw really was starting to hurt as he resumed grinding his teeth together.

“Now?  After, what?  Eight years?  Now you have concerns?”  Noctis took a step forward.  The room started to smell like brimstone.  Ignis nearly took a step back from the prince but remained firm in his stance.  Clarus had the courtesy to look abashed.  “Am I allowed to see him now?”

“Yes, of course, highness,” Clarus said and started walking to the door that he was not allowed to go through earlier.  Ignis knew that he was not hiding his pride or his smirk as they walked through the door.  Clarus took a step back as soon as they were passed the guards and Noctis ran towards the room that contained Prompto.

 

* * *

 

 

He just about warped in his hurry but was able to keep his composure in place.   He stopped at the entrance of room where Prompto was and froze.

Prompto was curled up on his side and hugging a blanket.  He looked upset.  He was dressed in an ugly green hospital gown and had a bandage wrapped around his right arm.  His eyes were squeezed shut, they looked swollen and scared?  Hurt?  Tired?  Alone?  He could smell that he was upset as he looked.

All things that should not be happening and he should never be feeling.

“Prompto?” he said and took a tentative step forward.

What did the idiots do to him?  All in his name?  Would Prompto be mad at him?  Why did they do this?  How could they do this to him?

Prompto’s eyes opened and they were lined with red.  “Noct!”  He sounded so happy to see him and he tried to sit up. 

Doctor Mar helped him sit up.  Noctis didn’t even see her there and he turned his anger at her.  “What did you do to him?!”  Only Ignis hand stopped him from lunging at her.  He wanted to shake her and demand the answers to the million questions that were running through his head.

“It’s okay, Noct,” Prompto said as he put a hand on the bandage on his arm.  There was blood seeping through the bandage.  How could he say that he was okay?

He walked and saw on the side of the bed.  He wanted to curl up against him and make everyone else in the room leave.  He wanted to take him home, make sure Ignis fed him some proper food, and they would watch something dumb, cuddle and not be in the hospital.

“We had to make sure,” Clarus voice was trying to be soft but he was still very mad at him.

“Of what!?” he turned and yelled.  Ignis hand dug into his shoulder but he ignored the pain.

The room was deadly silent after he yelled.

Prompto’s voice broke the silence.  “It’s okay, Noct.  I had a bad reaction to the dye they used in the MRI and then other stuff.”

“But why were you having an MRI?”

“Can we not talk about that now?”  Prompto said as he rubbed his eyes.  “I really want a shower and a bed, and a snack, and a potion and …”  Prompto let out a heavy sigh and slumped slightly.  “Please.” 

Ignis let go of his shoulder and went to Prompto side.  He took Mar’s place and helped him off the hospital bed.  He seemed shaky on his legs but quickly gained his stride.  

Noctis turned to Clarus.  “I want proper explanation for this bullshit!  In the morning.”  He then turned his attention to Prompto and Ignis and helped him get him out of the hospice and everything that he wished.  No one stopped them as they made the way to the garage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter but Prompto is back home and safe in his prince's arms. 
> 
> I can be found on Tumblr, [Twitter](https://twitter.com/AlbedoSoyna), and Pillowfort as **Albedosoyna**. Come give that a search and follow or contact me there. (Tumblr may be disappearing due to the fact that I am a NSFW or Mature type person and all and that is not allowed anymore.) 
> 
> Need a AO3 invite so you don't have to be anon anymore? Want to add your writing to this lovely site? If you drop me your email, I will gladly send you an invite! First come first serve, but I have a few with them opening things up.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladio confronts his father.  
> Prompto is spoiled, cuddled and treated better than the prince.

Gladio knew every creak, groan, and sigh that their house made.  He knew because he had been a little shit for two years where he was still trying figure out what kind of alpha that he was.  He knew which board made what sound, which door creaked if you opened it slowly and the sound of someone trying not to make any of those sounds.

“Dad?”

“Fuck!” his father yelled and dropped something that he was holding.  “I thought you’d be asleep.”

“Yeah, well.  It’s hard to sleep when a friend is being kept behind locked doors.”  Gladio rose from the couch and watched his dad pick up his bag that he had been carrying.  “Why was he locked up?”

“He wasn’t locked up,” Clarus defended quickly and tried to head to his room.

Gladio was having none of it.  He would not allow his father to not explain what was going on until he got an answer.  He was grateful when Ignis texted him saying that they would call him once they got Prompto out of the hospice and taken care of.  His brief conversation with Ignis told him that Prompto was okay but they really didn’t know much else.  He also told him of the integration that he was given by his father.

He leapt over the couch and grabbed his dad’s arm.  “You’re going to explain it to me,” Gladio demanded.  “Now.”

“I’m tired, Gladio,” he said in a stern voice.

“I’m tried too, dad.  Sit down and explain what the hell is happening with Prompto.”  He let go of his dad’s arm.  “Noctis is beside himself with worry.  Ignis was sucking back the ebony as if it was water.  I need to know why you let this happen.”

“I let nothing happen!”  Clarus barked back.  The smell of flowers in the room grew.

“Then tell me why it was necessary.” Gladio barked back.   “Why did you take Prompto away from Noctis like that!”  His hands tightened into fists.  He would fight his dad on this.  Prompto did not deserve all the shit that had to endure and then one more thing on top of it all, by people that he should be able to trust.

“Can’t this wait until morning?”  Clarus rubbed his eyes before looking at him.  His dad looked tired and worn out, but he needed answers.   Ignis had said that Prompto had been shaky even after he showered and had a microwave burrito.  He knew that Prompto was sleeping now with Noctis clinging to him.  Ignis had sent the picture.

It broke his heart at the thought of having to separate the two for any reason.

“No.”

He waited for his father to start an argument.  He was not going to back down like he did in the hospice.  They were at home now.  They had their share of arguments and he was not afraid to hold his punches against him.

“Let me get a drink,” he said finally said.  “You want one too?”

He shook his head. He was not in the mood for anything.  Iris had distracted him for a bit, but the worry came back as soon as she was tucked into bed.

He waited for his father to grab a beer from the fridge and drink half of it before he came back into the living room.  He collapsed into his normal chair and stared at him with a heavy sigh.

“So, what the hell was the deal?”  Gladio demanded.

“We found out why Prompto had the tattoo on his arm and we had to make sure that he didn’t have Nif technology embedded in him.”  He was looking at his drink.  “And we found out that he did, but different than we were expecting.”

“What?”

“Those tattoo’s mark their model numbers.”

“What?”

“I’m trying to explain son.  Quit interrupting me.”

“Sorry, dad.”

“I don’t understand the whole science behind it, but years ago, there was human experimentation going on in Niflheim.  As I understand it, they would mark kids at a young age with the program that they were going to be routed through.  The best way to figure out what his destined program was supposed to be was run an MRI.”

Clarus took another deep drink of his beer.

“Professor Northon has more information on the experimentation and it’s down right creepy.  It appears that those soldiers that we see in battle, are made from manipulating people from … kids.   Prompto was destined for that if he had not been rescued.”

“But how did he did he get here?”

Clarus glared at him.

“Sorry.”

“And I can’t answer that question yet.  We were making sure that the code didn’t hide something that would hurt the crown.”  Clarus let out another deep sigh.   Gladio had to resist the urge to ask what they found.  A knot set into his shoulders and his stomach tightened.  “The code didn’t read properly the first time and when we tried a higher power scan to find.  Prompto had a delayed reaction to the dye and then when they turned on the MRI, it caused some of the ink or whatever it is in his arm to hurt him.  So, the test that should have taken a couple of hours at the most, took most of the day because of the complications.”

“He isn’t hiding anything else from us, knowingly or otherwise, but you do have to understand we must keep the crown safe.”  Clarus said.

“Do you think he was planted here?”  Gladio asked.

“Maybe. We are hunting down his adoptive parents.  They seem to have disappeared.  From what we currently understand, it appears that it could be that he was part of human trafficking ring.  The orphanage that he was registered was closed not long after he was adopted.”

Gladio’s mouth dropped open and his eye brows rose into his hair line.  “What?”

“Yeah.  It was hard to get those records as they were sealed, and it required a royal order to get the information as it appeared that quite a few people bought children.” 

“That’s insane.”  Gladio whispered.  Prompto was a product of human trafficking and experimentation.  That was horrible and thinking of Prompto being dragged at a young age around and being sold, made his stomach hurt.

“And the worrying about Prompto being programmable and having something that would trigger him to hurt the prince.”

“Program?”

“Yeah.  It’s fucked up,” Clarus whispered.  “You sure you don’t want a beer?”

“I need time to think this over,” Gladio said.  He wanted to nothing more than run over to Noctis place and make sure that they were all okay.  “Fuck, dad.  Does he know this stuff?”

“Doctor Mar and Audientis were there with Professor Northon had a conversation with him.   I don’t know how much he understood as he had a glazed look on his face for a lot of the conversation.”  Clarus put a hand on his son knee.  “He’s had everything against him from the beginning.”

“Yeah, well.  Not anymore.”  Gladio said firmly. 

They sat in silence for awhile.

“You care for him, right?”  Clarus said in a tone that was heard in the walls of the Amicitia house.

Gladio nodded.

“Have you talked with Ignis?” Clarus squeezed his knee. 

“I texted him.  Prompto is resting right now.  He’s been so much.  I don’t know how much more he can take,” Gladio whispered.  Prompto had moments of when he was so confident, bright and happy and then something would happen that would turn him into an unsure ball of anxiety.

“That’s not what I mean when I say that you have talked to Ignis.”

His father had that look.  The look that told him that he was going to say something that he didn’t want to hear.

“Cor mentioned that he saw you boys as a pack.”

Gladio put his hands over his face.  “Just because there a million rumours that we are a happy little orgy doesn’t mean it’s happening.”  He didn’t want to look at his father as he said that.

He had the realization when he was fifteen that his dad and Cor were pack mates.  He had remembered a night when he caught Cor sitting on his dad lap when he was eight.  They had told him that they were practicing tying ties … without their shirts on and there was only a tie around Cor’s neck that his dad was holding.

He knew better now, and it was a common sight to see Cor joining them for breakfast, not because he was an early riser, but because he had stayed over.

“But have you talked with Ignis about the prospect?” Clarus gently asked. 

The room got quiet enough that he could hear the cycle of the fridge.  This was not a conversation that he ever thought he would have with his father.  He had already had the awkward conversation when he realized that the thing that he had with Ignis was not _just-a-thing_. When they became exclusive, he had to tell his father so that he wouldn’t be set up with girls.

That conversation was all about the expectations to have an heir at one point and Ignis, could not provide that.  It was something that they discussed and when the time was right and if they found a willing female partner, they would both have to agree on the arrangement.  His dad had been happy with that discussion and plan.  He had gone into a long unnecessary explanation of how that had worked with his mother and Cor and how complex his various packs were.

He did not want to know, but could guess, the other pack relationships his father had been involved with.

“What?”

“You are all so closely connected already, it would not be a surprise to myself or Regis if that is a decision you make at this point in your life,” Clarus said.  “And it would help Prompto learn to accept himself.  The boy has been through so much and I think having a closer connection between all of you would help.”

Gladio stared at his dad with his mouth open.

His dad was suggesting that he hook up with Prompto and to make sure it was okay with his boyfriend.  It didn’t help that they already had had the conversation if Prompto was willing.

“Especially at this stage in your life,” Clarus whispered and patted his leg.

“You would accept if I formed a pack with Prompto and Noctis?”

“And Ignis of course.  Despite the misgivings I had at the beginning of your relationship, I have come to respect your decision to stay with the beta.  He stabilizes you in more ways than one.  I see Prompto allowing you to connect with the Prince in a calmer manner.”

He blinked rapidly at his dad as his tired brain tried to figure out what was going on and how this conversation turned around like this.  It was one thing that it was something that he wouldn’t object to if it happened but now his father was suggesting it.

“Prompto is going to feel like he _should_ be rejected,” Clarus continued.  “Don’t let him go down that dark hole on his own.  His sunshine would go out and that would be horrible for him.”  He tried to take another drink from the bottle but found it empty.  “And the prince.”

Gladio shook his head and looked at the ceiling.  “Why is everything so complicated?”

His father chuckled.  “Life always throws more curve balls to make everyone miserable.  You can live in misery or make happiness of what the Six have offered.”

“Prompto will turn as red as a beet if I tell him that,” Gladio still looked at the ceiling.  “I’ll see him in the morning and we will try to make sure he doesn’t descend into a funk.”

Clarus made a great groaning sound.  “Speaking of which, it is nearly two.  We both need to sleep and I’m sure Iris will wake us up early and want to know what happened as well.”

Gladio stood and stretched his back and he watched his father do the same.  “She has dance tomorrow, doesn’t she?”

“Why does she have so much energy?” Clarus said as he slumped slightly as he walked forward.  “So much like her mother.”  He spoke the last sentence in a near whisper as he ran his hands over his short hair.

He could only nod as he went to his own room to try to sleep.  He collapsed onto his bed and heard the box spring creak under his weight.  He pulled out his phone and quickly texted Ignis a quick good night before putting it on the charger.

He hoped sleep will clear his head for the morning.

 

* * *

 

 

There was a soft tapping at the door.

Prompto shuffled from under his blankets to look at the door.  His eyes still hurt and didn’t want to open them.  He blinked furiously as he tried to get them to focus.

“Prompto?”  Ignis voice was soft and thick with concern.  “I have made the curry that you enjoy for lunch.  Would you like some?”

He rubbed his stomach.  When was the last time that he really ate something?  He had nibbled on some popcorn last night when he tried to watch a movie with Noctis but before that it was all a blur.   He drank a lot tea and water.  Everyone was always putting something to drink in front of him, even when he hadn’t complained that he was thirsty.

Despite all the sleeping that he had done, he was still exhausted.  He had so many nightmares that he couldn’t remember, and his thoughts were racing from the information that he learned about himself.

He had even desperately tried to call his mother, but her phone was disconnected.  He remembered staring at it in disbelief at how utterly abandoned he felt at that moment.  They hadn’t stopped him from leaving, hadn’t tried to talk to him and had kept huge secrets that hurt him and his future and now, they were shutting him out completely.  It was a good thing that he was in Doctor Audientis office that day because he was sure that he would have crawled under a rock and never came out again if he wasn’t there to talk him out of the despair spiral that threw him into an abyss at that moment.

Ignis and Gladio had been waiting for him after that session.  Gladio had tried to cheer him up with stupid jokes and showing him memes on his phone.  Noctis tried to cheer him up by offering him a chocolate milkshake and playing video games.  He did enjoy the milkshake but wasn’t interested in the game.  They ended up watching him play and falling asleep beside.  Having his friends close to him helped him forget all the horrible things that he had rolling around in his head.

He was even more grateful that Noctis still wanted to share a bed with him.  It helped waking up from his nightmares to have a friend there.  He wasn’t sure that Noctis was aware of how he comforted him with soft humming, stroking his hair and pulling him close.  There was even one night where he fell asleep against Gladio on the couch and he had an obvious crick in his neck in the morning and another where Ignis had laid beside him and Noctis.  The Chamberlain had tried to brush it off that he hadn’t slept beside them, but he did.

He was very thankful for them.

It didn’t stop him from feeling like he was a pile of broken garbage.

“Prompto?”

He shook his head and looked at the door.  “Yeah,” he called as he realized that he hadn’t answered.  “I’ll be right there.”

He slowly got up and stretched.  It was hard to move but he made himself move.  He could smell the curry now and it did smell good.  His stomach even gurgled at the prospect of the food.  His legs felt weak as he staggered to the bathroom to wash up a bit.  Washing his face and brushing his hair made him feel a bit better as he got some clean clothes on, so he wouldn’t stink so much.

Shuffling out of his room, he slowly made his way to the kitchen.  There was already a plate waiting for him with a toasted cheese covered bread and a large glass of milk. 

His friends had been nothing but doting on him since the day they talked about his tattoo and told him that he was part of an experiment and human trafficking scheme.  It was all rather stunning, shocking and sent him into a deep spiral of self hatred that he had never encountered before.

He appreciated that they were putting up with him still even after learning that he is a freak of nature.  They all assured him that he was still allowed to be there with them, that they were not rejecting him and that when he was recovered, he could get back to his routine in the Glaives.

Why they didn’t reject him, still confused him.

“Is there anything else you wish?” Ignis asked and was wringing his hands as he stood in the kitchen.

He wished he was just normal neglected kid instead of a neglected Nif omega experiment and human trafficking victim, but he couldn’t ask for that.  “Nah.  I’m good, I guess.”

“You look better today,” Ignis pried. 

He didn’t feel better.   He felt utterly alone and drained.  He didn’t know how anyone could stand him knowing all of that, but they somehow did.  “Thanks.”  Ignis sat in his seat with his portion of supper.  He tried to make himself busy with work on his lap top but kept looking over at him. 

The food tasted remarkably good and he did eat the whole plate. 

“Do you want seconds?”

He contemplated it, but he was already quite full.  He didn’t want to get sick from eating to much. “I’m good.  Thanks Ig’s.”  He went to go wash his dish but Ignis nearly stumbled over himself as he grabbed it from him.

“Why don’t you call Noctis.  He was worried about you.  You zoned out last night during the movie,” Ignis said.

“I did?” He didn’t remember what they even watched.  He did remember comfortably resting at his side and eating the popcorn but not much else.  He didn’t remember going to bed, he must have passed out or they had tucked him into bed. The prince had something royal to do early in the morning and he remembered Noctis having to be dragged out of his bed.

“Is there anything else you need?” Ignis asked.

That was a loaded question.  “No.  I think I’ll go soak in the tub,” he said.  “Is that alright?”

“Of course, it is!”  Ignis said much too cheerfully.  “I will be getting groceries to stock mine and the prince pantry after a jaunt into the office.  Is there anything you would like?”

He shook his head.  “No.  Not really.” 

Ignis hummed and tapped something into his phone.  “Alright.  Gladio should be by soon.  I will bring Noctis back for supper.”

There was always someone with him.  At least close to him.  There was always someone in the next room over or checking the phone for him.  He appreciated it, but he didn’t think it was necessary.  Ignis checked with him three more times before he finally left and he went to go soak in the tub.

The bath was just what he needed.  He used the bath salts that Gladio had told him to use and some bubble bath that had a nice lavender scent.  Soaking in a warm tub while playing stupid match games on his phone allowed his brain to disengage.

He could never soak in the tub in his former home.  It had been a home that he had to be careful not use to much power, not eat too much, stay out of the way when he was sick, in heat or for any other reason.

He had never been wanted.

It had been a thought that he wouldn’t allow himself to have before.  He was adopted so they had to have wanted him on some level or at least at one point.

Learning about that his so-called parents were involved in human trafficking had made him think.  Was he just so unadoptable that they had to keep him?  Is that why he always felt, at least a little bit, that he was in the way of things.  Being in the way had always been a way of life. 

That had changed when he became friends with Noctis, Ignis, and Gladio.  Ignis took a bit to warm up to him and Gladio had been all frowny at first, which had been his fault for encourage Noctis to be a delinquent at the arcade, but they had warmed up to him and always included him.  He wasn’t an after thought.  He was part of the thought.

His parents had always groaned as they tried to figure out childcare or ensure that there was enough food in the house for him, or if his clothes were suddenly not fitting and why would he need a phone and …

… they were no longer going to be part of his life or thoughts.

The therapy sessions had helped a bit to make him realize that they did not define who is was or what he was.  What he was, he had done on his own and he could do what ever he wanted.

It was what his friends had been telling him all along.

He was thankful that he was in such a good place.  He chuckled to himself.  He nearly died a few times, been hurt, often got it ill and didn’t know how he was going to react when he went full out omega in a couple weeks, but he was in a good place.

His phone buzzed so he switched screens to see that Noctis had texted him. 

  

It took him a moment to realize that there was sounds coming from the living room.

The water was getting cold anyway and a slushi did sound nice.  It took him a few tries as he still felt heavy as he got out of the water.

He wrapped himself in the robe that Gladio had given him.  It had been named the “Robe of Contention” by Ignis.  Ignis had originally got it for Gladio after the first time that Gladio stayed over and had walked around the apartment in his underwear.

Gladio only wore it one day when he returned to his nudist way of life, at least that is how Ignis referred to it as.

The robe was so large, soft, and white and it was nice how easily it wrapped around himself.  He started to shuffle out of the bathroom and expected to see Noctis and Gladio arguing over something.  They were always arguing over something.

Noctis was the only one on the couch, looking bored as he tapped into his phone.   He didn’t see Gladio anywhere.

“Hey!”  Noctis looked up and smiled at him; beamed.  Prompto loved his smile so much.  “I got you the horrible orange and cream soda mixture that you like so much.”  He lifted a colourful cup up and gave it a shake.  “Are you feeling better?”

He nodded.  “A bit.  I don’t feel so foggy now.”   Prompto said and flopped down beside him and pulled the robe closer around him as he grabbed the cold drink.  “Where’s Gladio?”

Noctis had his own drink that was half finished that was grape.  He slurped at it before responding.  “Iris needed to be picked up so he I got Nyx to bring me here earlier.”

“Nyx?”

“He’s dropped me off.  He wanted to come up and check on you, but I sent him away.” Noctis said.  “Are you sure you’re feeling better?”

“Yeah,” Prompto said and took a big pull of the straw.  “Nyx was worried about me?”

“Duh,” Noctis said with a wider smile.  “Everyone is.  Since you’ve been holed up here, they are always asking when you’ll be back.”

“Really?” Prompto whispered.  He knew that Noctis wasn’t lying to him.  He knew that they cared about him, but it was still hard to believe at times.   Even after everything that he had gone through, there were times where he wondered if it was only tolerating him because he was the prince friend but those were his doubting thoughts.  Noctis rolled his eyes and pulled closer to him.  “I know.  I know, but I still have those weird thoughts, you know.  I’m working on it.”

“I know,” Noctis said with that stupid smile again.  “We’ll beat it out of you eventually.”

Prompto laughed and it felt good to laugh.  Noctis smile softened and he moved to push closer to him.  “I missed hearing that.”

“Hearing what?” Prompto asked as he leaned against him.  He noticed that he smelled softer today.  It wasn’t as sharp as the previous days.  It was almost like after it rained, and the world was renewing itself.  Noctis had so many different scents it often sent his mind spinning as he tried to interpret them.  He always seems to get it right, so he wasn’t to worry about it.

“Your laugh,” Noctis said and pressed his forehead against his briefly as he slumped into his even more.  Noctis was so much like a cat.  The bath, the soft comfy robe and Noctis wonderful smile made him feel calm.  “Missed it.”

“Sorry for being so out of it,” Prompto said.  “I really do feel better.  Took a little bit to come to terms with it all.”

“I’m still confused over everything but I’m glad you’re still Prompto and that’s all that matters.”  Noctis patted his leg. 

Taking the opportunity to grab his hand and hold it.  “Thanks for not shunning me.”

“We already talked about this.”  Noctis sounded bored as he said it.  “I wouldn’t shun you.”

“You have every reason too.  I lied about who I am.”

“You never lied about who you are.  You’re Prompto and it doesn’t matter that you had a crappy childhood, horrible parents, and some shady shit going down that was totally out of your control.  All of that doesn’t change who you are:  My Prompto.”  Noctis squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

His face flushed red and his eyes started to water.  Prompto thought he was going to start to cry but focused on his slushi to cool himself off only to encounter a searing pain that ripped through his forehead.  He gave out a small cry, had to pull his hand away from the prince and try to stop the sharpness from spreading.  “Ah!  Brain freeze,” he groaned.

It was Noctis turn to laugh.  “You’re such a dork,” he proclaimed and took the slushi from his other hand and put it on the table.   

“I thought I was your Prompto.”  He tried to pout but it was hard when the Prince was putting his hands on his forehead and looking into his eyes intently.   It really took his mind off the brief brain freeze as he was starting to overheat again.

“My dorky pleb.”

“Narcoleptic prince,” he threw back.

“Whatever,” Noctis said with a smile as he settled into the same spot that he had before.  “Let’s watch a movie or something to nap too.”

Prompto couldn’t argue as he easily settled into Noctis again and their hands joined together as Noctis fished out the remote.  He didn’t even stay awake long enough to see what he had picked.   He was warm, comfortable and he was almost certain that he felt wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cuddles galore.  
> Because he needs them.
> 
> And Gladio really hates wearing robes.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladio cares for his not-quite-a-pack-yet, Prompto has a mild panic attack, and Noctis has a full blown one.

Gladio waited for his father or Jared to arrive before he left his sister at her dance class. He was cornered by a couple of the other dance mom’s, but he was used to them batting their eyes at him, even though most of them were old enough to be his mother.

His only thoughts were to get to Ignis apartment and check on Prompto and make sure Ignis was okay.  He was supposed to be there, but Iris had thrown a fit about her dance class and how dad was busy at work.  And to top it all off Noctis was being a brat.  He had ditched his duties and hunted him down because he wanted to see Prompto sooner than the time Ignis promised to pick him up.  He was grateful that he came across Nyx so he could pawn off the prince onto him and get him out of his hair.

He really wanted to see Prompto too.  Ignis had sounds worried earlier about how hard it was to get Prompto out of his bedroom and how slow he moved.  Ignis was in a state of constant worry since they got him back from all the stupid testing that sent poor Prompto into a spiral. 

His cheeks were starting to hurt from all the fake smiling he was doing.  He wished he brought a book, but he knew that the women would then be asking him about the book he was reading.  His phone thankfully beeped so he could excuse himself into the hallway for a moment. 

It was his father.

His heart started to race as he clicked to talk to him.  “Dad?”

“Gladio.  Are you with Iris?”

“Yeah.  Is something wrong?”

“No.  Nothing is wrong.  I need you to take Iris home.”

Gladio didn’t stop the growl that bubbled up.  He knew that his dad had a heavy role with all that was going on with the Imperial army but damn it he was tired of being the go-to.  “Dad.  I have plans.”

“She can’t go home on her own.  She’s too young.”

“What about Jarod?  Cor?  Anyone else but me!”  He knew he was snapping at his father, but he didn’t care.  He had to take care of Ignis and -- Damn Cor for putting the thoughts in his head -- his pack. 

Because even though they didn’t talk about it, that is what they were and there was no other word for them other than maybe his second family.

“Is it that urgent that you can’t take care of your sister,” Clarus snapped on the other end of the phone.

“Is it that urgent that you can’t take care of your daughter,” Gladio grumbled right back.  “Look.  I can take her home, but someone better be there or if I can drop her off at a friend’s house.  I need to help Ignis.  Noctis is already at his place with Prompto and I have Nyx guarding the building.”

He could _hear_ his father teeth grinding together.  “I’ll send Cor,” Clarus finally said.  Gladio was glad to hear in the background, “I’m doing what?” from Cor.

“Good.  Dad.  I need to be there.”  It was hard to soften his tone, but he did.  He wasn’t angry at his father or his sister.  He loved them dearly but there were times that he wanted to be his own man.  “You understand right?”

There was a small grunt, “Yeah.  I do.   There’s another hour to go on her lesson.  Go on.”

“Thanks, dad,” he said and was grateful.  The weight that he was carrying in his shoulder lessened.  Knowing he wouldn’t have to worry about his sister and get to make sure that his friends are going to be okay.  “I’ll tell her to expect Cor.”

“Take care of them.” Clarus said and hung up the phone.  He really had to talk to his father about his phone etiquette.

He walked back into the room and went to the desk so that they can tell Iris what to expect.   Iris bounded out of the room.  “Gladdy.  Where are you going?”

He swept her under his arm.  “Hey twerp, gotta run.  Cor will be picking you up.”

Her brown eyes grew wide and her smile crashed to a worried frown.  “Is Prompto okay?”

“He’s good.  Don’t worry.  I need to make sure Ignis doesn’t die of caffeine poisoning,” he comforted even though he was worried about Prompto as much as his boyfriend.

Her face softened and gave him a hug.  “You’re such a softy.  Tell Prompto that I miss kicking his butt on the hurdles.”

“He’ll be back to tripping over his own feet on the track in no time,” Gladio said. Prompto had been doing well until he had tried to race Iris and ended up crashing and burning halfway through the race.

She gave him a small slap on the arm and laugh.  “Okay.  I’ll make sure I terrorize Cor.  Bye Gladdy!”

“Make sure you do that,” he called after her and quickly dodge out of any conversations with the rest of the dance moms about when Cor was arriving.

It was time to catch Ignis.  He had texted him earlier but didn’t get a response and was sure he was frantically trying to do all the errands and demands that he had taken on.  It was the one thing that Ignis failed at was saying no.  He had gotten better since they started dating and since Noctis started to take on some responsibilities, but there were times when he would run himself ragged if Gladio didn’t stop him.

Arriving at Ignis office, he watched his boyfriend glare at his computer monitor and gripping his phone to tightly on his hand.  He stood by the door and waited for him to finish his angry phone call.  His hair was a little flatter than normal and out of place.  His cheeks were even pink and his shoulders tense as he took a drink from what appeared to be an empty Ebony.  Ignis frowned heavily and threw the can across the room.

That was when he went into action.

Ignis was usually slow to anger but was terrifying when it simmered over.

He charged into the room, grabbed the phone from Ignis hand, told whoever it was on the other end that the conversation would have to wait for another day, hung up.  He expected Ignis to retaliate but not as violently as he did.  Ignis grabbed his hand and twisted it sharply behind his back and had him face down on his desk and holding him there. 

After the initial shock, he was able to respond, “I thought you didn’t like to fool around in your office?”

The pressure lessened on his back as Ignis took a step back from him.  “Gladio.  You startled me.”

He turned around to see that Ignis was even more flustered than he was on the phone.  He was pushing his glasses up with one hand and the hand on his chest with the other.  “Obviously.”

Ignis cleared his throat and straightened himself out.  “What are you doing here?  Aren’t you supposed to be with Noct?”  The panic was rising in his voice.

Gladio reached forward and pulled Ignis into a hug.  He was stiff in his arms.  “He’s back at the apartment with Prompto.  Nyx is guarding the building.   I had to take Iris to dance but I’m totally available now to make sure that you ‘re okay.”

“I’m fine,” Ignis voice was stilted and harsh.  “Why wasn’t I notified of this change in Noctis schedule.”

Gladio held him firm.  “Had you bothered to check your phone?  I texted you and I know Noctis did too.”

He softened in his arms.  “You did?”

“Of course, I did,” Gladio soothed and ran a hand up and down his back.  Ignis was starting to melt into the hug. “You’ve been burning the candle at both ends again.”  He gave Ignis a quick kiss on his cheek.  “I’m going to order in a nice dinner and you’re going to bed early.  I’ll take care of the princess and the pea.”

Ignis snorted and fully relaxed into him.  “Don’t call Prompto that to his face.”

“I may have already in training,” he confessed.  Prompto had threatened to shoot him and did when he called him that a second time.  It stung like hell and Noctis had threatened to not allow a potion for being, as he phrased it, _a jerk face._

The chamberlain pushed against his chest and he allowed the separation.  “There is still so much to be done.”

“And it will still be here in the morning.  You need to be worried about Noctis more than any of the other shit that’s happening.  There is more than just you that can work around here,” Gladio said and leaned against the desk.   “Put your out of office on for the rest of the night and for tomorrow.  You’re pulling a sick day.”

“But …”

“Don’t argue with me.  I’m sure I can convince Noctis to pull a sick day, so you have to _take care of him_ ,” Gladio added air quotes for emphasis.

“That’s a diabolical plan,” Ignis said and crossed his arms trying to sound like he was against it, but his mouth was twisted up slightly told him that he thought it was a good idea.

“I’m not just a pretty face.”  Gladio was pleased when Ignis laughed and shook his head and even more pleased when he cupped his face and gave him a quick but way to chaste kiss.

“I could argue that point, but it is a strong selling point.” Ignis turned his back on him and gathered up his computer and reached for another can of ebony that was on the desk.  He cut off Ignis hand and brought it to his lips for a quick kiss so that he wouldn’t be punched.  Ignis face turned into a hard frown.  “Gladio.”

“No more tonight,” Gladio said and rubbed his knuckles with his hand.  “I’ll make it worth your while.”  He waggled his eye brow and offered a warm smile.  

Ignis green eyes narrowed as he stared at him.  Ignis loved his coffee.   It was the first thing that he needed in the morning and something that was always at his hand.  Gladio was sure that coffee would always be his deepest love.

“And how, pray tell, can you make it worth my while?”  Ignis voice was thick with doubt as he leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms.  His hand was twitching as if he was resisting to reach for the can on the desk.

Licking his lips and leaning in close to whisper in his ear.  “How about a massage?”  he leaned in closer and with a husky whisper added, “with a happy ending.”

Ignis tried to keep a straight face but gave up when Gladio waggled his eye brows at him.  He gave a snort and shook his head.  “You’re a horrible boyfriend.”

“BJ’s trump caffeine. It’s a fact.”  He received a sharp poke to his stomach that sent him a step back.  Gladio laughed as Ignis swept up his computer and phone while leaving the remaining can of ebony on the desk.

Gladio’s eye turned to the can that was thrown across the room.  “Who was on the phone that got you so mad?”  He picked up the can and threw it in the garbage.

“Chancellor Marcus is being,” Ignis took in a deep breath, “Difficult.  He is trying to take advantage of the fall break coming and trying to posture himself into my good favour.”

“Good favour?”   Gladio smirked and opened the door for Ignis.  “Yeah.  That seemed to be working well.”  Ignis didn’t respond back but he knew that he had a million thoughts running through his head.  “Let’s get home and hide under some blankets.”

Ignis smile became warm.   “I believe that you promised a massage and a happy ending?”

“Oh, we will do that too, after I get you and the twerps fed.”  Gladio said as they walked down the hall.  If there weren’t so many people around, he would have kissed him.  It seemed like Ignis needed some human contact and to be taken care of.

And that is what he planned to do for the rest of the evening.

He took care of them all.  He ordered in noodles which wasn’t that heavy on the vegetables to avoid Noctis complaining.  He made sure that Ignis did not clean a single dish.  He made sure the Prince and the Pea went to bed at a reasonable hour and he made sure that Ignis got his happy ending as well as a extra day off with a fake sick prince.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

It took a week to ease back into training. 

Prompto was so happy to have a normal routine.   He hated how everyone treated him like he was fragile at first but when he threw one of the bigger recruits over his hip in a wrestling match, they started to treat him like an equal again.

The only part he didn’t like was that during the week, he couldn’t sleep with Noctis.

He had gotten so used to him being at his side and dragging him off to bed.  He didn’t think it was something that he would miss but he did.  He was looking forward to Saturday night when they could crash at Noctis place and not worry about doing anything but playing video games on Sunday.

Between training and therapy, he had very little time that was free.  He had never been so grateful for that he could have someone drive him home or take a car for the night.  It was so much easier than transit.  If he was in a pinch, Ignis or Gladio were always glad to pick him up.

Saturday also had another meaning that he hadn’t mentioned to anyone.

It was his birthday.

He wasn’t sure if it was his real birthday or not after everything that he had learned in the past little while, but it was the day that was on his drivers’ licence.  His birthday had never been big deal.  His parents would give him an extra twenty crowns or a gift card, so he could go buy some clothes.

He very much doubted that Noctis would remember.  He wasn’t that type of a guy to remember things like dates.  He would remind Noctis on Saturday so that they could use his birthday as an excuse to go get ice cream.  He didn’t want a huge fuss over it.  After all, he didn’t know if it was really his birthday or not and the last couple of months had been enough attention.

Salire charged towards him.  “Dude!  What ya doing Saturday night?  Wanna go clubbing?”  Salire was the only other one that got as energetic as he did at times.  “I mean, if your up for it and all, but the Brook is supposed to be jamming.”  His voice went high at the end.  “They are having a glow in the dark night, so we can be the colour of the rainbow and glow in the dark.”

He shook his head.  “Sorry, dude.  Got plans already laid out.  How about next weekend?”  He hadn’t been to do a club since he had to tell the world that he was an omega.  He enjoyed the dancing and how he could just forget about everything.  It was a good way to get a free workout when you couldn’t afford to go to the gym.  Now, he got more than enough exercise and cardio.

“Dude!”

“Sorry, man.  Next time, though.” Prompto said.

Salire tilted his head and pushed out his lip.  “I got Lanna and Becki coming.  Lanna thinks your cuuuuute.”

He rolled his eyes at his friend.  “I don’t need to be set up.”  He did like both Lanna and Deni but most of his day dreams revolved around the three men in his life.  Not that he had a chance with them, but it wouldn’t be fair while he was still trying to deal with all his …. strange.

And he had a looming heat that could hit him at any time.

He hoped that it would never come again.

“Next weekend!”  Salire said as he slapped his arm.  “I’m going to hold you to it.  I need to burn off some energy.”  He literally bounded out of the locker room asking a few more people if they wanted to join him. 

He headed up to the offices where he was sure Ignis would be working with Noctis.  He was hoping to catch a ride with them home.  He knew Gladio was doing something with his sister, so he wouldn’t be around.  She had some dance tournament or show or whatever they did in dance. 

“Hey, kid!”

He turned to see Nyx waving at him.  He waved back.  “Hey, hero!”   He called back and walked toward him.

“Don’t you start that on me too,” Nyx said as he put his hands on his hips and shook his head.  “How’s it going?”

“Better,” he said knowing that he didn’t have to cover up what happened to him with Nyx.  He had been there in the background for most of it. 

“Good to hear.  If your heading upstairs to catch Specs he’s already left for the day.  If you need a ride, I can give you one.”  He offered.

Prompto frowned and looked at his phone.  He didn’t get a text from anyone.  He made sure that it wasn’t in airplane mode or anything and it wasn’t.  “Oh.  I guess I could use a ride then.”  He shouldered his bag and couldn’t help but feel like he was forgotten.

He knew that they wouldn’t do it on purpose.  Stuff came up when you were super important and texting your roommate was usually not the highest priority.

“Yeah the Prince was making a fuss about something and they had to run,” Nyx smiled.  “Or you can probably catch Gladio and go watch a bunch of twelve-year old’s dance.”

“Ugh, no.  I love Iris, but I couldn’t sit through that,” he laughed.

“I’ll treat you to some kabobs and then drop you off.  You still look like you need to gain a few pounds back.”

“Ah, man.  I gained five of the ten that I lost back already.  I’m sure another week and I’ll be back to normal,” Prompto patted his stomach.  He didn’t think the weight loss was that noticeable but Noctis said that it was visible in his face.   This was not an issue that he ever thought he would have to deal with.

“No doubt!”  Nyx said.  “Come on, Sharp Shooter.  I owe you.”

“Owe me?”  Prompto tilted his head.  “Why do you owe me?”  They started to walk to the garage, so they could pick up a car.

“Well, you know.  For all that stuff,” Nyx waved his hands generally around him.

“What stuff?”  Prompto stopped walking.  He wanted and explanation what the _stuff_ was.  He had enough _stuff_ to last a life time and he didn’t want something else to jump on him.

“Listen,” Nyx said with a deep sigh.  “Let me buy you a drink and some food first okay.  Everything goes down easier with dinner.”

His stomach twisted into a knot at the thought of what other _stuff_ Nyx had to tell him. 

“Hey, oh!  Man!  Kid?”  Nyx put his hand on his arm and lead him to a nearby coffee nook.  His legs started to feel week and his knees didn’t felt like they were going to give out.  Things were just getting back to normal and there was more _stuff._ “Sit down and I’ll get you some water.  Here, here!”  He was placed in a plastic chair and he patted his shoulders as if he was afraid, he was going to run.  He didn’t want to know more _stuff._   Nyx ran to grab a glass from the nook cupboard and knocked a couple to the floor.  “Sorry.  Sorry.  I didn’t mean to upset you.”

The water was put in his hand and Nyx encouraged him to drink.   He sipped the water and got his composure somewhat back.  He still felt shaky “What stuff?”  His voice was weak and almost a whisper.  He was afraid to ask what Nyx was talking about because he doubted that he could handle any more _stuff._

Nyx pulled up a chair close to him so that their knees were touching.  He put his hand on his knees and looked at him with concerned grey-blue eyes.  “They did talk to you about what they found out your parents and all the other stuff.”

He nodded.

“I helped with that report,” Nyx said.  “I was following your parents around until they up and disappeared.  It was one of my duties that was given to me. Understand?” 

He swallowed heavily and nodded.  He didn’t trust his voice to say anything yet.  He took another sip of water.  “And they were horrible people.”  Nyx voice was a whisper and thick with sympathy.  “I was happy to hear when you moved in with Ignis.  Your so-called parents put the house up for sale as soon as you moved out.  Your father,” Nyx looked down at the floor and chewed his lip.  “He was angry to see that you left.”

Prompto swallowed heavily at the mention of his father.  His father was not one to show him anything but distain and anger for as long as he could remember so the statement didn’t surprise him.

But it hurt.

They had to have cared about him a little bit at one time.

“What type of mad?” Prompto finally was able to ask.

Nyx gave him a confused look, “What do you mean?”

Prompto twisted his hand around the disposable cup and stared at the little bit of water that remained.   “You know,” he cleared his throat and looked at a broken cracker that was on the floor.  It was easier to look at the cracker than to look at Nyx.  “Like, was he mad because he lost his son, or mad because I left without talking to them?”

“I think it was the mad because you weren’t under his control anymore.  There was a lot of cursing and other stuff and,” Nyx paused again and tightened his grip, “More concerned about you taking the computer than about you.”

“Fuck,” he whispered and sniffed.  He wasn’t going to cry over this shit again.  “I haven’t read the report yet.  I didn’t want all the fine details, you know.”  He rubbed his eyes as he squinted them shut.  “Ignis has it and read the whole thing.  He ended up throwing knives.  He has a dart board he puts up when he’s mad at something.  He can be scary.”  Prompto looked back at Nyx.  His face was soft and thick with concern.  “I don’t know if I want to know all that _stuff.”_ He used air quotes.  “Because it was hard to hear that they really didn’t care about me, you know.”

“Yeah,” Nyx said and pulled his hands away from him.  “Shit.  Sorry.  I didn’t mean to stir up shit.”

“It’s okay,” Prompto said and meant it.

“Things are good now though, right?  Living with Ignis is all good right?  Even with the dagger throwing dart board thing.”  Nyx smiled.

Prompto couldn’t help but laugh, “Yeah.  Never have to worry about threats because Iggy will get them first.”

Nyx stood and took his cup.  “So, let me buy you dinner to make up for being a jerk for bringing up all that _stuff.”_

Prompto nodded.  “I want extra spicy kabobs with beer.”  He put the cup in the garbage and Nyx but his arm around his shoulder.

“No problem, kid.”   They started to head back to the garage again, “Make sure Ignis knows, so that I don’t get daggers thrown at me.”

“Good plan.” Prompto said and pulled out his phone to send the message.

He was sure that Ignis would throw knives at Nyx if he thought he hurt him in any way.

 

* * *

 

 

Documents and more documents were all that his life had become.   A million reports, requests, cards, and even death threats were covering his desk.  Everyone had their own agenda that was not in the best interest of the people.  Ignis always kept him on track and looked for the loopholes that he missed.

He couldn’t do all this work without him. 

“I almost miss the days of ribbon cuttings and waving in the car as I drive down the road in some stupid parade,” Noctis grumbled.

“You say that now, Highness,” Ignis said as he rose from his desk.  “But I don’t think I could bear another ribbon cutting with you warping away as soon as you’re done.”

Noctis rolled his eyes.  “That was only once.”

Ignis looked like he was going to give him a lecture when the door pushed open without the required knock.  The wraith of Ignis was about to spring forth when a paw and the black and white snout emerged.

“Umbra” Noctis called as the door fully opened and the messenger gave a small woofing sound as he padded toward him with his tail wagging vigorously.

Noctis heard Ignis sigh as he bounded from his chair and kneeled in front of his dog and gave him a vigorous ear rub.  “Who’s a good boy?  Who’s a good boy?”  Umbra rumbled and grumbled happily at the attention before he reached into the small pouch for the book that he wrote to Luna in.

There were days when he wished they could talk on the phone to her, but this was the only way that they could ensure that their messages wouldn’t be intercepted and corrupted.

“It’s time for a break anyway,” Ignis said as he stood and stretched.  “Would you like something from the nook?”

“Some Grape Cool Cool would be nice,” he said as he walked on his knees to the couch.  Umbra bumping up beside him the whole time and obviously wanting more ear rubs.

“As you wish, your highness,” Ignis said.  “I will be back in ten minutes.”

He waved in Ignis general direction and pulled himself on to the couch.  Umbra bounded up beside him and rested its front paws and head in his lap.  He chuckled and rested his hand on his head.  “Let’s see what Luna wrote, shall we?”

They usually wrote each other every other week.  He was able to write down the things that he always screws up when he talks to people.  He had sent her a bunch of Prompto’s pictures to her and told her how well he was doing now.   You could always tell which pictures were the blonds.  Prompto had a natural act of framing images.  His always seemed out of focus and cut-off pieces that made them a awkward looking.

He started to read her beautiful script.

 

> _Noctis_
> 
> _I’m sorry for the shortness of my reply but I wanted to ensure you got a response before Saturday.  I promise to tell you with more in the next note I send._
> 
> _I have sent you a picture that Aranea took of me after practice with the staff.   I almost knocked her over.  I’ll get better enough to be able to take you on in battle one day Noct.  You will be glad to hear that she did knock Ravus on his backside and he was a super grump for three days.  He is a rather sore loser._

He found the picture of her wearing all white sweats, her hair in a high bun.  She was leaning on her staff and smiling as she had one leg on a training dummy.   He chuckled at the picture.  He had convinced her to take some battle training so she could look after herself better and not count on her dumbass brother all the time.  He also was quite happy to hear that someone was putting the pompous ass in his place.

He continued reading

 

> _I enjoyed all those pictures you sent._
> 
> _I’m so glad to hear that Prompto is doing so much better.   I was worried about him after all those horrible things you found that had happened to him.  I loved the selfie of you two on the couch together.  You looked so comfortable together and happy.  I’m so happy that you found a wonderful boyfriend!_
> 
> _I have enclosed a card for him.  Make sure he gets it.  It is the least I can for someone that makes you so happy.  I am so glad that you found each other._
> 
> _Make sure you give him a big kiss for his birthday on Saturday._
> 
> _Love_
> 
> _Luna_

He blinked frantically at the words on the page. 

“Ignis!”  He yelled but he wasn’t back yet.

 _‘Boyfriend’_ and ‘ _Birthday’_ were the words that had him reeling.

Boyfriend.  Luna thought Prompto was his boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

“Ignis!”

Umbra whined at his yelling and looked up at him. 

“Umbra?  Is Prompto my boyfriend?”

He knew that Umbra’s head cocking to the side was involuntary at the mention of his name, but it looked like a affirmative to him.

Did Prompto think he was his boyfriend?

This was all Ignis and Gladio’s fault.  They had put the idea into his head. 

And then the second thought came rushing into his head as he held the card with Prompto’s name scrawled in Luna’s beautiful cursive writing.

Luna got Prompto a card.

Saturday was Prompto’s birthday.

He had forgotten Prompto’s birthday.

He forgotten his best friends’ birthday and Luna remembered.

“Fuck!”

“Highness?”  Ignis was at the door looking very confused.  He held a can of Ebony, grape Cool Cool and it looked like a dog treat.  Umbra jumped off the couch towards his advisor.

“Prompto’s birthday is tomorrow!”  He yelled.  He couldn’t move from his seat, but he wanted to burst out of his skin.

“Why, yes.  I thought that was why you planned an evening with him.”  Ignis voice was to casual and full of amusement.  If it had been anything else but Luna’s book, he would have thrown it at him.

“You need to help me!  I need to get him a present.  I don’t have a present,” Noctis couldn’t help but feel the panic in his voice as he scrambled off the couch.  “Ignis!  I’m a horrible person.  I’m a terrible person!  How can I forget his birthday?”

“Well, not horrible.  How about self centered?”  Ignis said and gave Umbra the treat.  “Good boy.”

“Specs,” he whined.  “You need to help me.  Like, right now.” Noctis grabbed the cans from Ignis and put them on the desk and whirled back on his advisor.  “I don’t even have a card!  Luna has him a card.”  He waved the envelope in front of his face.  “Why didn’t you remind me that it was his birthday?  Iggy!  What am I going to do?”

“Well,” Ignis started but he cut him off.

“What do I even get him?  What should I get him?  I know!  A new camera!  That PX 3400!  He’s been eyeing that one every time we pass the Vision store!  Or how about a new laptop so he can properly edit his pictures.  He’s always complaining about how much his lappy crashes and stuff.  Would that be to much?  Ignis!”  He stopped talking and glared at Ignis.  “Are you going to help me or not?”

Ignis had a hand over his mouth and he was squinted at him.  He cleared his throat and in an amused tone finally responded, “Sure, your Highness.  When you’re done panicking, I can help you with an appropriate plan of attack for this particular birthday problem.”

“It’s a crisis!”  Noctis nearly yelled.  “My best friend’s birthday is tomorrow, and I have nothing!  I’m such an idiot!”

Ignis put his hands on his shoulders, “You are always an idiot, sire.   But I can help you with this particular version of your idiocy.”

Noctis narrowed his eyes at Ignis and his way to smug tone and look.  “This is your fault.”  Noctis whimpered. 

“Oh, and how is it my fault?” Ignis said as he rubbed his arms.

“I heard you.”  Noctis looked at his feet. 

“Heard me say what?”  Ignis said and directed him back to the couch, careful to avoid Umbra who was circling around them.

“You and Gladio thought I was sleeping,” Noctis said as he collapsed back on the couch and had Umbra jump on him.   He dropped Luna’s notebook on the floor and put his hands in his fur and pulled the hound close so he could use him like a shield.  “After the day we were checking out the Glaives for Crownguard members.  You mentioned about a pack and stuff.”  His voice trailed as he looked up at Ignis.  He had never seen anyone looking so shocked, never mind Ignis who always was cool calm and collected.

“I thought about it a lot and it seems that other people have noticed it.  Luna noticed it!”  He pointed to the book on the floor.  “She told me to give him a kiss and that she was happy that I found a great boyfriend!  Luna!  A person I write two every two weeks and send pictures figured it out and I haven’t!”  He buried his face into the fur of Umbra who grumbled at being manhandled.

He felt Ignis sit on the couch and a gentle hand on his leg.

“So, what do you want to do about it.”

What did he want to do about it?

“Would it be so bad to ask him to be my boyfriend?” he whispered into the dark fur.  It was always easier to talk with animals around.  Hiding in Umbra’s fur coat the fact that his face was red, his heart beating to fast and he really hadn’t sorted out all his feelings.

But knowing that he forgot his best friend’s birthday made him feel like a bag of crap.

The thought of asking Prompto to be his boyfriend made him, nervous, happy and confused all at once.  The thought of him saying no made him scared, nervous and anxious.  Talking about this with Ignis made him want to puke.

Thankfully Umbra’s grumbling and weight was comforting and made him feel like he could talk without folding in on himself.

“I think it would be a good thing,” Ignis said in a whisper.

“Yeah?” he peaked over to Ignis who was smiling at him.  He had removed his glasses.  He looked soft and the smile on his face was not as amused as before but still certainly smug.

“You two are practically dating anyway,” Ignis comforted.  “You two are good for each other.”

Noctis buried his face in the fur of Umbra for a bit more as he tried to come up with his next train of thoughts.  “How?”

“How what?”

“How am I going to ask him?”

Ignis sighed.  “I’ll help you with that.”

“And with me getting a birthday gift?”

“Yes.”

“And what about the other stuff you and Gladio said,” Noctis asked.   He stared at Umbra as he spoke.  He couldn’t look at Ignis as he talked.  It was to hard to look at him and think about having more than a friendship with him.

Even though, when he was honest with himself, Ignis was always going to be a part of his life and so was Gladio.  This was just pushing the boundaries that they had set for each other as they grew up.  The expectations of being and adult and a prince had always been pushed on him.

But Luna already thought of Prompto was his boyfriend and was happy for him.

He would have to ask in the next note he sent if she was dating anyone.  He would be happy for her as she was for him.

Their lives were complicated and there were difficult points and Prompto made it a bit easier.  He couldn’t think of a life without them.

He wasn’t sure where it would go, but he knew he couldn’t be without them.

“That is up to you where you want to go with that.  We can be a pack without going further than our friendship.  I know Gladio and I will take whatever you have to offer, if it is just friendship or more.  We can work that all out together.”  Ignis spoke as if it was something that he had rehearsed.   His hand was comforting on his leg.  A warm weight that he knew would never hurt him and always help him lead the way.

“Thanks, Igs,” he said and let go of Umbra who seemed to be happy get out of his grip.   The dog nosed the book and sat staring at him.   

“Now, why don’t we deal with the problem that has got you all worked up first.  We need to deal with you getting something for Prompto’s birthday and how you are going to ask him to be your boyfriend.”

“Shit!”

He didn’t even know if Prompto would have him!

“Language, Highness.”  Ignis said as comforted Umbra and picked up the book on the floor to hand to him.  “Shall we head to the mall?”

“Let me write something first,” he said as he dashed for a pen.  “I’m going to make it the best birthday for Prompto, ever.”

It was a quick note.  He would write her more later, but he had urgent matters to deal with.  If Prompto said yes, he would make sure he sent her all the love and thanks.

>   _I’ll send pictures of Prompto on his birthday._
> 
> _Love_
> 
> _Noct._

Now he had to frantically had to figure out what he was going to do and was grateful that Ignis would be able to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Things are moving along now aren't they?
> 
> Now will Prompto say yes? Will Noctis not make an ass out of himself? And what will he get for his sunshine's birthday?


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto has a wonderful birthday.
> 
> Ignis comes up with a new recipeh!

It was now officially his birthday. 

He was all of nineteen years old.

Nineteen.

He turned over in his bed and looked at the clock and was startled at the time.  He had slept in.  It wasn’t surprising.  He did have a few more beers than he had intended the night before with Nyx.  He thinks the older man was going out of his way to make him not think about the stuff that had sent him into a panic attack. 

It had turned out to be a nice night with extra spicy food and cold beer.  He hadn’t met Crowe before even though he had heard about her.  She was amazing with magic and showed up Nyx as they tried to balance bottles on their forehead.

Usually there was sounds of Ignis puttering around and doing laundry on Saturday mornings, but the sounds were absent.  He struggled out of bed and did his normal waking routine and put on some comfortable clothes.  His only plan for today was crashing at Noctis’ place to play the new video game after all.

He was surprised as he walked out of his room to be swept up in a set of large arms.  “Happy Birthday, Twerp!”  He yelped as his hard knuckles pressed into his scalp and gave him a noogie that surely wrecked his hair styling that he had done.

“Ugh!  Gladio.  Put me down!”  He protested as he was carried over to the kitchen table and dropped into his chair and tried to salvage his hair.  He was glad that he was wearing sweat pants because he didn’t want to draw attention to how the manhandling gave him a boner.

“We have freshly baked Cinnamon buns from Sweety Bun-Bun’s!”  Gladio landed heavily in his chair.

He observed in the table that there was a large bun that was cut in half, a cup that looked like it had a latte and a small box wrapped in moogle paper in the center of the table.

“Cinnamon buns,” he grumbled and so did his stomach.  Sweety Bun-Bun’s was expensive and the best bakery that he had ever been too.

“Yep, Cinnamon bun for the cinnamon bun,” Gladio said and took a bite of one that had been in front of him.  “Good stuff.  Eat up, birthday boy or I totally will be because it is my cheat day and I could eat all the sugar.”  He rolled his amber eyes as he chewed and talked with his mouth full.

“Gross.  Close your mouth,” He complained but tore off a piece of his breakfast treat.  “Where’s Ignis?”

Gladio rolled his eyes.  “Noctis was having a crisis this morning.”

“A crisis?”

“Don’t worry about it.  It is a Noct crisis so it’s nothing serious,” Gladio said and took a big bite out of the other half of the bun on his plate.  Most of it fit in his mouth.  “Eat your bun and then open the present from Iggy and me!  Iris picked out the card and wrapping paper.”

“You guys didn’t have to get me anything.  I mean, I hardly pay for anything.  I don’t deserve any gifts.”  Prompto said as he tore off another piece of the delicious bun.

“Nonsense,” Gladio said.  “I have those awesome pictures you took of Iris and myself framed.  Dad loves them.  And those pictures you took on the last fishing trip with Noctis, King Regis has it on his desk.  So, shut with the not worthy stuff and open it. It’s absolutely perfect for you.”  Gladio licked his lips in a lewd manner to get icing off that made him focus on the pastry.

Why was everyone around him so damn beautiful?

He enjoyed the coffee and pastry.  It was so large and filling he felt almost guilty eating the whole thing.  Gladio talked about how Iris did at her last recital and how she placed gold platinum which he didn’t know what it meant but from how he puffed his chest it must have been a good placing.

He reached for the card and grinned at the image on the front.  [It defiantly was bought by Iris.  It showed a moogle with a bag and a whole bunch of letters falling out of a messenger bag](https://www.redbubble.com/people/binoute/works/21193372-you-have-a-message-kupo?card_size=4x6&cat_context=u-stationery&grid_pos=5&p=greeting-card&rbs=37e5d827-3587-4845-98da-928b5be42296&ref=shop_grid&searchTerm=moogle%20greeting-cards).  He opened it up the word KUPO written in large black letters with Iris signature – with a heart written over the I – as well as Ignis and Gladio’s. 

“Cute card.”

“I tried to get her a chocobo one that matches her hair, but she said it was rude.” Gladio grumbled.

“My hair does _not look_ like a chocobo butt.”

“Keep saying that.”  Gladio pulled out his phone.  “Open it up.  I want you to use it tonight.” 

“Use it?”  He shook the box and tried to hear if it rattled.  “I hope you guys didn’t spend to much money on me and shouldn’t I wait until Ignis is here so that he can see me open it?”

“Just open it.  I’ll send him a picture,” Gladio said.  “And don’t worry about the paper.  I have a million rolls of various moogle wrapping paper in the house.  Birthday, Valentines day, Solstice, and even for   April Fools Day.  Dad never turns down anything that Iris wants.”

He shook his head and smiled as he tore through the paper.  As soon as he saw what was hidden under the cutesy wrapping paper, he just about screamed.  He put the half wrapped present down on the table and jumped at Gladio and gave him the hardest hug that he could.

Gladio’s deep laugh was warm and his hand pressed against his back and the other in his hair.  It was just like what Ignis liked to do as well.  He would never tell them how much he liked that because he knew that they would stop doing it.  Gladio was a wonderful wall of muscle and it was always amazing to feel his hugs.  He wanted hug him more, but he figured that was the omega in him being needy. “Well, if I knew I was going to get that reaction, I would have gotten it for you earlier.”  He let go of Gladio and blushed.  Gladio took a picture with his phone and smirked.  “You look cute all flustered!”

“Shut up!  Where did you see it?  It was always sold out when I had the money to order it!  [I always wanted a Lego camera](https://leicastoremiami.com/products/lego-leica-m-camera-brown-gray?variant=5514962763814#a_aid=4ec1e34531802)!”  Prompto dropped back into his chair and finished unwrapping the gift.  It wasn’t very big gift, but it was something that he wanted to get.  He shook it again and saw it rattle in the clear box.  He could see the Lego pieces moving inside.  “The brown one!”  He grinned as Gladio took another picture. 

“I ran across it at my favourite book store.   I couldn’t’ resist it and k new that Ignis would agree.  I know it’s not as fancy as your camera, but I thought it would be cool to take camping and stuff when Noctis is fishing so we don’t have to worry about wrecking your good camera.”  Gladio said.

Prompto frantically tried to open the packaging.

“I need to put this together!”  He scrambled with a large smile.  His stomach felt as if he had a million butterflies and he couldn’t stop smiling.

“Need help?” Gladio asked and took another picture. 

“Nope!  My birthday present!”  He said as he dumped the pieces onto the table.

Gladio chuckled again and when Prompto looked up, he was looking at his phone.  “I sent the picture to Ig’s.  He’s very happy that you like it and hopes that you will have a hug for him as well.”

“Of course,” he said as he started to separate out the parts and unfurl the instructions.

This was already the best birthday he could ever remember.  His last birthday, his mother got him a card with some money.  Money that he had to use to pay his phone bill.  He couldn’t remember the last time his dad had gotten him anything or even wished him a happy birthday.

The only thing that had been memorable about it was what he did with his friends.

“Hey?”  Gladio’s voice was thick with concern and the smell of flowers tickled his nose.

“Hmm?”  He looked over to him to see his amber eyes looking warmly at him. 

“Why so glum all of a sudden?  You went from a ten to a two in a second flat.” 

“Just thinking about my parents.”  He fiddled with a couple of the pieces in front of him.  “And my last birthday.”

“Why waste your time thinking of them?”  Gladio growled.

He shrugged.  “I was thinking that this is the best birthday I ever had so far.  I mean, last year was okay because Ignis made that nice dinner for me when Noct remembered it was my birthday and we got to spend the night at the club dancing the night away with those glow sticks and paints.  You and Ignis didn’t think we saw you two making out in the booth.   Did you even notice that Ignis had a glow in the dark handprint from you on his ass as you walked through the bar?”

Gladio’s eyes grew wide.  “That’s why you two were giggling!”

He nodded and grinned widely at the thought.  He had a picture of it.  It was a little blurry, but it was amusing to think that the two were not as subtle as they thought they were with each other.  “Anyway. my mom only got me some cash and I don’t think my dad even saw the card.”  He looked over to Gladio.  “So, that had been my best birthday that I could ever remember,” he said.  “Until today.”

He focused on the parts of the camera.  “I guess I never thought of myself special enough to deserve more for my birthday until you guys started being part of my life.”

“Fuck, Prompto.”  Gladio rose from his chair and wrapped his arms around him again.  “You are worth everything and we’ll be here to remind you when you need it.”

Prompto melted into the warm hug.  Two hugs from Gladio in two minutes.  He allowed himself to put his hand on his strong arm and lean into it.  “Thanks,” was all that he was able to get out.  The hug would have been more than enough of a birthday present.

Why did his hot friends give out the best hugs?

Gladio messed with his hair again as he pulled away.  He protested and pretended to be upset.    He was going to have to make sure he fixed his hair before they left the apartment.  The shield went about putting the dishes away and filling up his coffee as he went to work on putting his new camera together.

“Heard you were out with Nyx last night.  They treat you right?” Gladio asked as he was halfway through the camera.

He nodded.  “Yeah.  It was good.  They bought me a lot of food and I got home safe.   I had a small freak out and he really obviously worked hard to make me feel better.”

“Freak out?  About what.”  Prompto could smell the flowers again.   He always wondered why others would say that Gladio had no smell, but he could smell the flowers all the time when he was near him.

“It was nothing.  We were talking about my dad a bit and I got a little upset.  He made it up for it with beer and kabobs.”  Prompto said.  “Crowe can totally whip his ass at just about everything.”

Gladio barked a laugh.  “Darn right she can.  She’s one tough broad.  I’ve seen her throw Nyx across the room.  Nyx can warp though so he sneaks up behind people to get the upper hand, but she can use wind and fire like no one’s business.” 

Prompto put the last piece of the new camera together and held it up.  “Dude!  Wanna pose for me to see how it works.”

He almost regretted it as soon as he said it.  Gladio was on his feet and his shirt was off and thrown across the room.  His chest, nipple piercing, and tattoo was on display.  “Want me to flex?  Chest or back?  Chest would be better as I got fills the other day on some of the feathers and they’re a little scabby.”

His fucking chest.  He gave himself a shake.  “Give me a classic gun show!”  He said quickly and Gladio posed.  His biceps building as he flexed and winked at him.

Sweat pants were a great invention.

“Another one!”  He clicked.  “I’ll send Iggy all the pictures.”  He would also keep some for himself because every flex of his muscles was perfect, and his abs made him weak.  Gladio was all smiles and posed in some serious poses and some silly ones.

They laughed as they downloaded the pictures and sat side by side as his computer struggled to deal with the software, but they finally were able to look at the silly and hot man in the pictures.  “Ignis will really like that one,” he said as he pointed to one where his chest was puffed out. 

“Totally send that one to him.  He’ll be jealous that he’s not here to enjoy all this,” Gladio was not ashamed to run a hand down his body and Prompto followed the hand.   This was not the first time that he noticed the small trail of hair that disappeared into his jeans.

He laughed and adjusted the computer to hide the growing problem in his lap and sent the pictures off to torture Ignis as much as he was being tortured.   Gladio’s phone beeped with the tone that he has set for Ignis and the smile told him that Ignis must have responded with an amused response.  “Dinner will be ready at five.”  Gladio said with a smile.

“Is Ignis cooking dinner? I thought that we were ordering in pizza?”  Prompto asked.   That had been the original plan.

“Yeah, well.  Noctis decided that he wanted to make the day special.  So, you didn’t hear this from me, but Ignis has been helping Noctis cook the meal and bake you a cake.  Be surprised when we go over later.”  Gladio said as he tapped into his phone.

“Noctis is cooking?  Hot dogs and macaroni?”

“Ha, Ignis would not allow such a thing.”   Gladio relaxed back in his chair.  “I’ll need to pick up some drinks?  Hard or soft stuff?”

“Vodka and lime,” he said quickly.

“Got it!”  Gladio said.  “I need a shower before we go!”  He stood and dramatically stretched.  Prompto wished he had his camera ready for that.  He swallowed, not trusting his voice to speak and nodded his head as he focused on the pictures he was working on editing. 

The little camera was not that bad but was lacking a bunch of features but getting candid shots and not worrying about quality was fun.  He was sure he could get more features later added or figure it out himself how to make it better.  Once he got some extra cash, he could make all the modifications he wants.

He couldn’t stop smiling at the thought of Noctis wanting to cook a meal for him for his birthday.  Ignis would make sure that he wasn’t poisoned, and he would get time to spend with his best friend and hopefully he has ice cream because he was craving it something fierce.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Spaghetti with meatballs, freshly made garlic bread, a garden salad with poppy seed dressing, and a fresh vanilla chiffon cake, served with a scoop of the best vanilla ice cream that he had ever tasted.  The comically decorated cake with what was supposed to be a chocobo added to the charm of the meal.

It was the best feel that he had ever had.

He had never been happier than he was right now.

He hugged the large yellow stuffed chocobo that Noctis had got him for his birthday without any shame as Noctis had his arm around him as he was pulling up the newest movie that they both wanted to see.  He looked over to Noctis, “Dude, you should cook more often.”

“I agree with that sentiment,” Ignis said from the kitchen.

“Only for special occasions,” Noctis said with hooded eyes.   “Icing a cake was hard work.  Worth it though.  Your eyes were sparkling.” 

Prompto giggled at how he said that.  It also could of strong drinks that Gladio had poured to go with it.  He had taken so many pictures that he filled up the memory card on the new Lego camera.  Noctis was scrolling through the feed to find the movie they wanted to watch.  He could hear Ignis and Gladio murmuring in the kitchen as they cleaned.

Ignis had a few of the drinks which coloured his cheeks and gave him a sharper tongue.  He was also a lot more flirtatious with Gladio and the big man was loving the attention.

“Are you two staying for the movie?” Noctis yelled into the kitchen.

“Nah,” Gladio responded.  “I’m going to take Ig’s home.  You two can have the rest of the cake for breakfast.”

“I do not need to be taken anywhere!”  Ignis protested.

“I know that, babe, but I want too,” Gladio said.  Prompto looked over to see Gladio giving Ignis the dopiest look that he had ever seen.  He hoped that one day that he would be as much in love with someone as he was with Ignis.  Ignis was trying to pretend that he was not as drunk as he was, as he pushed his glasses up on his face and smeared dish soap across one of the lens’. 

Ignis cleared his throat as he tried to clean up the mess that he was creating.  “Well, then.  I will allow it.”

Noctis snorted and smiled.  “And they call us, dorks.”

Prompto hugged the plushie tighter and smiled so hard that his cheeks hurt.  “Found the movie yet?”

“Do you boys want popcorn or a refresh of your drinks?” Gladio asked.  “Last chance for service before we head out.”

“Double mine!”  Prompto said as he looked at his empty glass. 

Gladio rounded into the living room and took the glasses off the table, “I’ve already been doing that, Cinnamon Bun.”  Gladio winked at him as he went back into the kitchen.  He was too flustered to respond when Noctis poked his side.

“Can I start the movie?” Noctis asked.

He nodded and buried his face behind the crest of the chocobo to his blush. 

In no time, there were two fresh drinks, with ice and a mint leaf as garnish, and a large bowl of popcorn place in front of them.  Gladio ruffled his hair and told them to behave.  Ignis was having some issues with his shoes at the door.

Gladio must have making his drinks triples to have him so off center.

The lights dimmed and his whole world was now illuminated by the screen of the movie and Noctis warmth at his side.   The movie quickly became background noise to his own thudding heart and his brain rushing with thoughts of the day.  Noctis smelled so good.  He shirt smelled like the fresh bread that he cooked earlier.

“Thanks, Noct,” he said half-way through the movie.

“Hmm?  For what?” Noctis said as he stuffed his face with popcorn.  He tilted his head to the side and gave him a very dopy eyed look that reminded him of how Gladio looked at Ignis.  He had to be imagining it or projecting.

He wasn’t sure which one suited the situation.

“For today,” Prompto said.  “Making the birthday great.”

“You deserve it, bud,” Noctis patted his kneed and leaned against him.  “I did want to get you a better present but couldn’t think of something perfect.”

“Choco the Chocobo is perfect,” Prompto exclaimed and thrust the bird into his face.  “Don’t insult the bird. 

Noctis laughed and pushed the bird away.  “No seriously.  Gladio and Ignis got you that awesome camera and I was think of getting you that one you are always looking at the PX-3400 –“

“PR-3400”

“—but they were sold out and Ignis stated that they were getting you a camera and they already got you the perfect gift and there is so much I want to do to make sure that you know that you mean so much to me.”    Noctis rambled and his eyes grew wide.  Even in the dim room, he could see that there was shock on his face for what he just said.  “Because you do.”

“Noct,” was all that he was able to say.  His heart was beating too fast and all his thoughts were only focused on the prince in front of him.  Watching his blue eyes nearly sparkle from the alcohol and the relaxed look on his face.  His face changed in a second from the drunken blathering to a shocked realization

“Oh!”  Noctis burst up from the couch.  His actions were not as graceful as they normally were as he hit the pause on the remote and jumped to the small table that where the lamp was.   There he grabbed and envelope and brought it over, gracelessly flopping down beside him.  “Don’t want to forget this.”

“A card?” he said as he looked at his full name written in script on the front.   

“Luna sent it in our book,” Noctis said and rubbed the back of his neck.  “I meant to give it to you over dinner but …”  He shrugged and motioned with the envelope.  “Open it up.”

He blinked at the envelope as it took it from Noct.  It was super fancy paper.  The same type of paper that she had sent him a thank you note in when he was young.  He turned it over to see a blue wax seal with the impression of a sylleblossom.    It really was from Luna!  He pushed Choco to the side and held the envelope in his hand.  He tried to control his shaking as tried to open the envelope.  He carefully tried to have it so that the seal wouldn’t break but it did.  “Damn, I was hoping to keep the seal.”

“I’ll get her to send another,” Noctis said and set next to him.  “What did she send?”  He leaned against him again and his scent increased.  He smelled like excitement and curiosity.  Prompto really enjoyed the large array of scents that he gave off.  It mixed well with the smell of bread that still lingered on his clothes.

He opened the envelope and was the image on the card was that of a cactuar wearing a birthday party hat.  He smiled as he opened the card to see her beautiful scrip inside.

> _Happy birthday, Prompto!_
> 
> _Have a wonderful day!  I made sure that Noctis didn’t forget.  Make sure he treats you right and gives you all the love!_
> 
> _I hope that I will be able to give you a big hug one day for making Noctis so happy._
> 
> _Pryna sends her love!_
> 
> _Lunafreya Nox Fleuret_

“Luna tattled on you,” he laughed.

“What?”

“Did you forget my birthday?” Prompto asked as Noctis tore the card out of his hands.  He watched Noctis slumped and rubbed his face.

“But I cooked dinner,” he whined.  “Forgive me?”  He stuck his lip out in a pout and gave him large puppy dog eyes.

Prompto laughed.  “Of course.  I will expect you to remember next year and I want an even grander birthday party!”  He waved the card at him.  “Luna remembered and she doesn’t even live here.”

“I’ll do anything for you,” Noctis said.  “I’ll have a ball in your honour if you want.”

Prompto scoffed and rolled his eyes.  “I don’t need anything that grand, but maybe putting a reminder in your calendar would be a good thing.” 

“Ignis already made me,” Noctis mumbled and look at his hands and chewed his lip.  “I’m sorry for being the worst friend in the world.  You deserved more than this.  Ignis said you would be happy with a meal cooked and a quiet evening and low-key shit.”

“You aren’t the worst friend.  You’re the best friend,” Prompto said.  “You did all this for me.  Got me Choco and the food was great.  There is nothing more than I would like to do on my birthday than pig out on popcorn and watch a movie with you.”

The prince smiled at him nervously and looked at him through the bangs of his hair.  Noctis shoulders shrank and he slouched on the couch and in a voice that was full of nervousness and a tinge of uncertainty, he asked something that he never thought he would hear from anyone lips that meant it.  “So, would you be put up with me being your boyfriend?”

The blood rushing to his ears and his heart started to pound at the prospect of something that he never thought he could have.  “Did I fall asleep?”

Noctis blinked at him and tilted his head.

How can someone be adorable, handsome and so clueless all at once.

“Are you asking me out?” Prompto asked and clenched his hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

Noctis nodded.

There was only one other time in his life that he was asked to be someone boyfriend.  It was the start the senior year when Abra McLan had asked him to be his boyfriend.  He had been thrilled until Abra had started talking about his expectations for the relationship.  He wanted a beta so that he ‘wouldn’t get to attached’.   Abra had only picked him because he thought that he would be a willing partner for him to use.  Also, because he was a boy, he wouldn’t get pregnant, and he didn’t need to use condoms.

It had been a horrible conversation to have and was grateful that he was able to run away from that and avoided all the possible classes with him after that.

There was no disappointment when Abra got expelled when he tried the same tactic with someone else who had parents that cared for him.

Now he wasn’t hiding who he was, and his best friend was asking him to be his boyfriend on his birthday.

Nothing could ever top this birthday.

“Are you going to answer?”  Noctis voice was low and full of worry.  His scent had changed to a smell that was bitter with a touch of fire to it.

“Yes!”  He yelled and threw himself at his best friend – boyfriend. 

He hugged him with all his strength as they fell back against the couch.  Noctis worry quickly changed to a very beautiful laugh and his scent changed just as quickly.  Burying his face into his shoulder and closing his eyes he allowed this moment of pure glee.  His stomach fluttered and his heart beat to fast, but it was the most wonderful feeling in the world to have the warmth of Noctis hands pressed against his back.   It was the best feeling in the world.

“I want to kiss you,” Noctis whispered into his ear.  “I’ve never done that before, so we’ll have to practice a lot.”

“Neither have I,” Prompto responded with the largest smile.  “I’m sure we can figure it out.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Do you think he asked him yet?” Gladio asked as he stroked Ignis hair. The other man’s head was resting neatly in his lap and his green eyes were closed in feigned slumber.  It had been a couple of hours since they left and since they hadn’t hear anything, they both assumed that it was good new or Noctis was still too nervous to ask.

“I hope so.  It was all that he could talk about all day of how he was going to do it,” Ignis complained.  “I will lock them in the bedroom together if they do not confess to each other.”

Gladio chuckled to himself and continued to stroke his hair.

“He paced and fretted all day and I think had a at least three panic attacks,” Ignis opened his eyes and looked up at him.  “I had to assure him so many times that Prompto would say yes.”

“Close your eyes, Igs,” Gladio said.  “I’m sure they will tell us all about it tomorrow afternoon.” 

Ignis closed his eyes again and hummed in agreement.  “It was really nice that Noctis cooked dinner mostly on his own.”

“Mostly?”

“I gave him all the instructions and made sure that he didn’t burn anything when he got distracted.”  Ignis said sleepily.  “I would add more basil to the sauce, if I made it though.”

Gladio rolled his eyes and went back to stroking his hair.  “Of course.”

In a sleepy voice, Ignis added, “And I would caramelize the onions before adding them to the sauce."

**Author's Note:**

> I reblog shit on tumblr [Albedosoyna](http://albedosoyna.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thank you for reading and reviewing.
> 
> Comments appreciated.
> 
> I'm slow at writing, but I will try for every two weeks... or approximately so.


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